On the 18th, Meta announced it is expanding a notification feature to South Korea and globally, enabling parents to timely recognize and support warning signs related to suicide and self-harm among teenagers on Instagram.
This feature applies to parents who have set up account management and supervision functions for teen accounts, as well as teenage users themselves. If a teenager repeatedly searches for phrases that encourage suicide or self-harm, or expressions indicating intent to self-harm within a short period on Instagram, the parent receives an alert regarding their child's safety. Parents who receive such alerts are provided with information about repeated search attempts, along with professional counseling institutional investor resources and expert guidance LINE materials to help them discuss sensitive topics with their children.
This measure was designed so that parents can recognize when a teenager may need help and intervene at the right time. Instagram has previously blocked search results related to suicide and self-harm and guided users attempting such searches toward counseling institutional investor resources and support materials. Now, by notifying parents of repeated search attempts, Instagram ensures that its protective measures within the app can lead to parental support.
Meta also applies strict standards to content involving suicide and self-harm that may be exposed to teenagers. Content that encourages or glorifies suicide or self-harm is strictly prohibited under community policies. While content where individuals share their struggles or experiences of overcoming them is permitted, such content is restricted from being shown to teenagers.
Through Instagram teen accounts, Meta applies age-appropriate protective measures by default not only to content but also to overall app usage experiences for teenagers, including messaging and screen time. For users aged 14 to 18, protections for teen accounts are automatically applied, limiting who they can contact and what content they can see. Additionally, when daily usage reaches 60 minutes, a notification prompts the user to close the app, and a usage restriction mode is automatically activated that blocks notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Teen users aged 14 to 16 require parental permission to relax these protective measures.
in TECH
