Stormont Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has given internet service providers until the end of the month to state how they will help prevent suicide, especially among males under 35.
Mr McGimpsey met representatives of Google, Vodafone and Bebo on Tuesday to discuss what they are doing to prevent people who are contemplating suicide or self-harm from using social networking websites to co-ordinate their plans.
The Department of Health said the meeting involved "straight talking". Mr McGimpsey asked the companies to make clear by the end of July "what actions they intend to take to prevent their sites being used to assist young people in taking their own lives".
The meeting was prompted by a steep rise in the rate of suicide, especially by males under 35, in Northern Ireland. Figures for 2006 suggest the numbers of those dying by suicide has nearly doubled to 291.
Recent cases include the deaths of two men, one from Dublin and the other from Omagh, at Gortin lakes in Co Tyrone. The two were unknown to each other until they co-ordinated their plans via the internet.
In Co Armagh, three teenagers from the same school took their lives in separate incidents in the weeks leading up to mid-June.
These cases have prompted Mr McGimpsey to highlight what he fears is the growing danger of copycat suicides linked to internet usage.
Recognising what his department calls "the positive contribution made by the internet industry", the Minister said: "The work undertaken so far must be welcomed. However, what we need are preventative measures now. Young people are our most valuable resource. We cannot delay in putting in place strong measures aimed at protecting them.
"In the last 12 months the rate of suicides in Northern Ireland has increased significantly and the internet has been cited as a contributory factor in some cases."
Referring to next week's planned meetings of the British-Irish Council at Stormont and the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh, he continued: "This is not a problem that is unique to Northern Ireland and has the potential to be repeated in other jurisdictions. For that reason I will be raising this issue at my forthcoming meetings with my counterparts in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland."
Google said last night: "For some time we've been working with the Samaritans in the UK and Ireland to make sure that vulnerable people get the information they may need.
"For example, if you search on Google for terms like 'suicide' or 'I want to kill myself', you'll see an advert for the Samaritans offering confidential emotional support. We will continue to work with the Samaritans. We also asked for further information about other relevant groups in Northern Ireland with whom we could discuss the use of technology in ways similar to the Samaritans."
Bebo said that it continues to work closely with the Samaritans and many other organisations with a strong role to play in emotional support. "We welcome the opportunity to brief Mr McGimpsey on the initiatives we have in place to help promote a safe and supportive online environment," it said.
A spokeswoman for Vodafone, which is linked to internet services MySpace and YouTube, said last night it would respond to Mr McGimpsey's call by the deadline.
"We recognise there are risks with social networking," she said. "This is a complex area and we're not pretending we've got it right. There are no easy answers and we will work with government and non-governmental organisations to protect those who use the services." She added that there had to be a workable balance between the imposition of access controls and the freedom of people to use internet services.
Mr McGimpsey already chairs the Ministerial Co-ordination Group on Suicide Prevention and £3 million has been allocated for the implementation of a suicide prevention strategy this year.