By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer
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.
Related Articles
Discord postpones age verification rollout amid criticism, promises transparency Russia opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov Reddit hit with $20 million UK data privacy fine over child safety failings Hegseth warns Anthropic to let the military use the company’s AI tech as it sees fit, AP sources say Facebook owner Meta to buy AI chips from AMD in deal worth up to $100 billionInstagram says it already blocks such content from showing up in teen accounts’ search results and directs people to helplines instead.
The announcement comes as Meta is in the midst of two trials over harms to children. A trial underway in Los Angeles questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm minors. Another, in New Mexico, seeks to determine whether Meta failed to protect kids 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 they deliberately design their platforms to be addictive and fail to protect kids from content that can lead to depression, eating disorders and suicide.
Meta executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg have disputed that the platforms cause addiction. During questioning by the plaintiff’s lawyer, in Los Angeles, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with a previous statement he made that the existing body of scientific work has not proved that social media causes mental health harms.
The alerts will be sent via email, text or WhatsApp, depending on the parent’s contact information available, as well as a notification through the parent’s Instagram account.
Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, arrives in court to testify in a landmark social media case that seeks to hold tech companies responsible for harms to children, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)“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 said it is also working on similar notifications to parents about their kids’ interactions with artificial intelligence.
“These will notify parents if a teen attempts to engage in certain types of conversations related to suicide or self-harm with our AI,” Meta said. “This is important work and we’ll have more to share in the coming months.”
Hence then, the article about instagram says it will notify parents if teens repeatedly search for terms related to suicide was published today ( ) and is available on GreeleyTribune ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Instagram says it will notify parents if teens ‘repeatedly’ search for terms related to suicide )
Also on site :