Instagram will start notifying parents if their children repeatedly search for suicide and self-harm content.
However, a leading online safety charity criticised the update as “flimsy” and say it risks leaving parents “panicked and ill-prepared” for the difficult conversations that may follow.
In the coming weeks, parents who have parental supervision set up on their children’s Instagram accounts in the UK, US, Australia and Canada will start receiving the notifications.
The messages will be sent if an underage user repeatedly searches for phrases promoting suicide or self-harm, phrases that suggest a teen wants to hurt themselves, and terms like “suicide” or “self-harm” in a short space of time.
The alerts will be sent through email, text, or WhatsApp, as well as a notification on Instagram – if the parents are signed up to the platform’s optional supervision setting.
As well as an alert about what the under-18 has been searching for, parents will also be given the option to see “expert resources” to help them approach “sensitive conversations with their teen”, according to Meta.
Soon, alerts will also be sent if a youngster is talking to Meta AI about suicide or self-harm.
Search terms relating to suicide and self-harm should already be blocked on Instagram and guardrails exist within Meta AI to stop harmful discussions and instead signpost helpful organisations.
However, the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) says its research has shown suicide and self-harm content is still available on the app.
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