FB blocks terminally ill Frenchman from streaming his death

Facebook yesterday said it would block the livestream of a Frenchman suffering from an incurable condition who wanted to broadcast his death on the social media platform.

Earlier, Alain Cocq announced that he was now refusing all food, drink and medicine after President Emmanuel Macron turned down his request for euthanasia.

Cocq, 57, who suffers from a rare condition which causes the walls of his arteries to stick together, said he believed he had less than a week to live and would broadcast his death from Saturday morning.

"The road to deliverance begins and believe me, I am happy," he wrote on Facebook shortly after midnight in a post announcing he had "finished his last meal".

"I know the days ahead are going to be difficult but I have made my decision and I am calm," he added.

Facebook, which has been increasingly criticised over the way it polices the content it carries, yesterday said its rules did not allow it to portray suicide.

"Although we respect  (Cocq's) decision to want to draw attention to this complex question, following expert advice we have taken measures to prevent the live broadcast on Alain's account," a Facebook spokesman told AFP.

"Our rules do not allow us to show suicide attempts."

Cocq had written to Macron asking to be given a substance that would allow him to die in peace but the president wrote back to him explaining this was not allowed under French law.

Cocq said he hoped his struggle would be remembered and "go down in the long term" as a step towards changing the law.