Instagram Says it Will Notify Parents If Teens ‘Repeatedly’ Search for Terms Related to Suicide
Instagram said Thursday it will begin notifying parents if their teens repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self harm. The alerts will only be sent to parents who are enrolled in Instagram’s parental supervision program.
The company said it already blocks suicide and self harm related content from appearing in teen search results and instead directs users to crisis resources and helplines.
The announcement comes as parent company Meta faces two major trials over alleged harms to children. A case underway in Los Angeles is examining whether Meta’s platforms were deliberately designed to addict and harm minors.
Another trial in New Mexico is focused on whether the company failed to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms. Thousands of families, along with school districts and government entities, have sued Meta and other social media companies, claiming their platforms are intentionally designed to be addictive and expose children to content linked to depression, eating disorders and suicide.
Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have disputed claims that the platforms cause addiction. During questioning in the Los Angeles trial, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with his prior statement that existing scientific research has not proven that social media causes mental health harms.
The new alerts will be sent by email, text message or WhatsApp, depending on the contact information provided, and through a notification on the parent’s Instagram account.
“Our goal is to empower parents to step in if their teen’s searches suggest they may need support. We also want to avoid sending these notifications unnecessarily, which, if done too much, could make the notifications less useful overall,” Meta said in a blog post.
Meta also said it is developing similar notifications for parents related to teens’ interactions with artificial intelligence tools. The company said parents will be notified if a teen attempts to engage in certain types of conversations related to suicide or self harm with its AI systems, with more details expected in the coming months.
