"Instagram said Thursday it will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm. The alerts will only go to parents who are enrolled in Instagram's parental supervision program. Instagram says it already blocks such content from showing up in teen accounts' search results and directs people to helplines instead."
"Thousands of families along with school districts and government entities have sued Meta and other social media companies claiming they deliberately design their platforms to be addictive and fail to protect kids from content that can lead to depression, eating disorders and suicide."
"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."
Instagram announced a new parental alert system that notifies enrolled parents when their teens repeatedly search for terms associated with suicide or self-harm. The platform already blocks such content from appearing in teen search results and redirects users to helpline resources. Alerts will be delivered via email, text, WhatsApp, or Instagram notifications. This announcement occurs amid two ongoing trials against Meta regarding platform harms to children—one in Los Angeles examining alleged deliberate addiction tactics, and another in New Mexico investigating inadequate protection from sexual exploitation. Thousands of families, school districts, and government entities have sued Meta and other social media companies, claiming they design addictive platforms and fail to protect children from harmful content linked to depression, eating disorders, and suicide. Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, maintain that existing scientific evidence does not prove social media causes mental health harms.
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