Hong Kong parents to get alerts over teens’ self-harm searches on Instagram
Meta Platforms rolls out alerts to help parents intervene when teenagers repeatedly search for self-harm-related content as part of wider safety measures
Meta Platforms has started sending out alerts to parents whose children repeatedly search for content about suicide or self-harm on Instagram as part of broader efforts to strengthen online safety for young users.
Parents supervising a teen’s account can receive notifications by email, text message, WhatsApp or Instagram, depending on the contact information available.
They will also be directed to expert resources on how to approach potentially sensitive conversations.
Philip Chua, Meta’s Asia-Pacific general manager for product public policy, said on Thursday the company wanted to balance protecting teens and allowing parents to intervene when necessary.
“We think that the balance here is delicate, but the balance here should be supportive of a parent,” he said, adding that Meta already directed users searching for sensitive topics to resources including The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong.
The global technology conglomerate said the alerts, which began rolling out this month, would be triggered by repeated searches for terms including “suicide” and “self-harm”, as well as phrases promoting such acts or suggesting that a user wants to hurt themselves.