Instagram to alert parents when teens repeatedly search for suicide, self-harm content

Photo and video sharing platform Instagram will begin notifying parents when their teenage children repeatedly search for content related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time, US social media company Meta announced Thursday.

"When a young person searches about suicide or self-harm, empowering a parent to step in can be extremely important," said Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

The alerts, which will roll out next week to parents using Instagram's parental supervision tools in the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada, are triggered by searches involving phrases promoting suicide or self-harm, terms suggesting a teen wants to hurt themselves. They will be sent via email, in-app notification, as well as text or via messaging platform WhatsApp, and will include expert resources to help parents navigate sensitive conversations with their children.

Both parents and teens enrolled in the supervision feature will be informed in advance that the new alert system is being introduced.

Meta said it is also developing similar parental notifications for teenagers' conversations with its AI tools, to be introduced later this year. "We know teens are increasingly turning to AI for support," the company said, adding that while its AI is already trained to respond safely and provide appropriate resources, the new alerts would extend that layer of protection to AI interactions as well.

The feature will expand to additional regions beyond the four initial markets later this year.

The announcement comes as Meta faces multiple US legal battles, including trials accusing the social media company of deliberately designing addictive products for children and a separate case alleging the company failed to protect minors from sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram.