By Kayla DeKraker
Instagram just announced a life-saving new feature that will immediately alert parents when teens search for self-harm or suicidal content.
“In the coming weeks, Instagram will start notifying parents using supervision if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time,” Meta announced in a blog post. “This is the latest protection for Teen Accounts and Instagram’s parental supervision features.”
The platform noted that “the vast majority of teens do not try to search for suicide and self-harm content on Instagram, and when they do, our policy is to block these searches, instead directing them to resources and helplines that can offer support.”
Parents will receive alerts through email, text, WhatsApp or through an in-app notification, depending on the contact details available. When they open the alert, they’ll see a message explaining that their teen has repeatedly searched Instagram for suicide or self-harm-related terms in a short period of time. Parents can also access expert resources to help them talk with their teen in a supportive way.
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This updates comes as Meta finds itself involved in a California trial regarding social media platforms like Instagram’s and Facebook’s addictive features, GOOD MORNING AMERICA reported.
The impact of social media on mental health, especially in teens, has been a rising concern.
Last year, The Mayo Clinic reported that just a few hours of social media a day could greatly impact mental health.
“In a study focusing on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, spending three hours a day using social media was linked to a higher risk of mental health concerns,” the healthcare group said. They also mentioned that a separate study “found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.”
The 20-year-old woman suing Meta in California claims that social media harmed her as a teen.
“Disconnected ‘Likes’ have replaced the intimacy of adolescent friendships. Mindless scrolling has displaced the creativity of play and sport. While presented as ‘social,’ [the platforms] have in myriad ways promoted disconnection, disassociation, and a legion of resulting mental and physical harms,” the lawsuit says.
Among other issues, the lawsuit claims that social media sites have “‘inadequate’ measures for age verification and parental control,” per NBC News, increasing teens’ susceptibility to dangerous content.
As people continue to acknowledge the harms of social media, we can celebrate Instagram’s effort to make the platform safer for teens.
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