"From next week, parents and teenagers enrolled in Instagram's "Teen Accounts" supervision programme in the UK, US, Australia and Canada will receive alerts if a young user searches for harmful terms within a short period of time. The feature will be rolled out globally at a later stage."
"Meta said the alerts are designed to flag sudden changes in search patterns that may indicate distress. Notifications will be accompanied by guidance and expert-backed resources to help parents navigate what are likely to be sensitive conversations."
"Chief executive Andy Burrows described the announcement as "fraught with risk", warning that "forced disclosures could do more harm than good". "Every parent would want to know if their child is struggling," Burrows said, "but these flimsy notifications will leave parents panicked and ill-prepared to have the sensitive and difficult conversations that will follow.""
Instagram is launching a new parental notification system for its Teen Accounts supervision program in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. When teenagers search for suicide or self-harm related terms repeatedly within short periods, parents will receive alerts via email, text, WhatsApp, or the app itself. The feature aims to flag sudden changes in search patterns indicating potential distress. Notifications include guidance and expert-backed resources to support parent conversations. However, the Molly Rose Foundation has criticized the measure, arguing that forced disclosures may cause more harm than good and that Instagram should prioritize preventing harmful content from appearing rather than alerting parents after searches occur.
Read at Business Matters
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