Washington, United States. Instagram said it will begin notifying parents if their teenager repeatedly searches for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period. The move comes as governments consider tighter restrictions on social media use by under-16s following Australia’s ban.
New alerts tied to Instagram’s supervision setting
Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms Inc, said on Thursday it would start alerting parents who are signed up to its optional supervision setting if their children try to access suicide or self-harm content.
“These alerts build on our existing work to help protect teens from potentially harmful content on Instagram,” the platform said in a statement. “We have strict policies against content that promotes or glorifies suicide or self-harm.”
Instagram said its existing policy is to block such searches and redirect people to support resources. It added that it would begin sending the alerts from next week for those signed up in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.
Governments consider restrictions after Australia’s ban
Pressure has been growing for governments to follow Australia’s ban on the use of social media for under 16s. Britain said in January it was considering restrictions to protect children online, after Australia’s move in December.
Spain, Greece, and Slovenia have in recent weeks said they are also looking at limiting access.
Broader debate on online harms and regulation
Governments are increasingly seeking to protect children from harm online, particularly after worries over the AI chatbot Grok which has generated non-consensual sexualised images.
In Britain, measures designed to stop access to pornography sites for children have had implications for adults’ privacy, and have led to tension with the U.S. over limits on free speech and regulatory reach.
Teen accounts and monitoring options
Instagram’s ‘teen accounts’ for under 16s need a parent’s permission to change settings. Parents can also select an extra layer of monitoring with the agreement of their teenager.
Do you use Instagram’s supervision setting to monitor a teenager’s account?
