Instagram, a social media platform popular among young people, said Thursday it will alert parents if their teens repeatedly search for suicide or self harm-related terms.
“Our goal is to empower parents to step in if their teen’s searches suggest they may need support,” the company said in a blog post.
Parents will receive a notification through text, email or WhatsApp. They will also have the option to view resources to help them have sensitive conversations with their teen.
The move is the latest example of how tech companies are responding to concerns from parents, politicians and advocacy groups that they’re not doing enough to protect young people from harmful content.
A landmark trial over whether tech companies such as Instagram and YouTube can be held liable for allegedly promoting a harmful product and addicting users to their platforms is happening in Los Angeles.
The trial included testimony from Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who told the court that the company is trying to be as “safe as possible but also censor as little as possible.”
Safety concerns have intensified as teens, some who have died by suicide, turn to AI chatbots to share some of their darkest thoughts.
Instagram has an AI assistant within its search bar. Meta, which owns Instagram, is building similar alerts if teens try to have certain conversations about suicide and self-harm with its AI assistant.
Meta has rules against posting content that encourages suicide or self-harm but allows people to discuss the topics. The parent company has also taken action against millions of suicide, self-harm and eating disorder content, Meta’s transparency reports show.
Some parents and teens, though, have alleged in lawsuits that young people have seen self-harm content on Instagram.
Roughly 63% of U.S. teens, who are between 13 to 17, use Instagram, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in December. More than half of U.S. teens also use chatbots to search for information, according to a separate survey released this week.
Instagram, which has more than 3 billion monthly active users, said that most teens don’t search for suicide or self-harm content on Instagram. It blocks searches and directs people to suicide prevention resources. Instagram said the alerts are part of its teen accounts, which includes limits on who young people can message, time limit reminders and other features.
Parents who use these tools to keep an eye on their teens will start receiving alerts in the U.S., U.K. Australia, and Canada next week. They will then roll out to other regions later this year.
Social media platforms have been taking other steps to improve safety. This month, Meta, TikTok and Snap agreed to be rated on their teen safety efforts as part of a new program from the Mental Health Coalition.
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