This presentation will discuss research conducted as part of Samaritans Online Excellence Programme that aimed to better understand the perspectives of social media users’ views of online platform policies and messaging related to self-harm and suicide content. This included algorithms that suggest content to users, current posting restrictions, the role of trigger warnings, support messaging and the blurring or blocking of self-harm imagery. The study had three parts: (1) Three online focus groups to gain an overview of social media users’ opinions and to co-develop parts two and three (n=10). (2) A national survey (n=5294) to assess views and experiences of messaging and safety of social media platforms in relation to self-harm and suicide. (3) A series of online in-depth interviews (n=17) to gain a deeper understanding of the issues raised. We will report the results of these three studies. Participants reported seeing self-harm and suicide content at a very young age which frequently appeared without being searched for and had both positive and negative effects. While platforms have taken positive steps to address safety issues, these have not yet been fully evaluated. Individuals gave valuable insights and recommendations regarding how platform policies could be improved.