Meta to Notify Parents When Teens Discuss Self-Harm with AI

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Meta has updated its protection features for teenage users by adding a system that can notify parents when a child’s conversation with Meta AI points towards self-harm.

According to an Engadget report on Wednesday (15 July) local time, the feature has been introduced to strengthen parental oversight of teenagers’ activities on Meta’s platforms, after the company previously gave families access to the topics of conversations between teenagers and artificial intelligence (AI).

Meta explained that when an underage user discusses topics indicating a risk to their personal safety, Meta AI will continue to direct them to relevant support services and encourage them to seek help from a trusted adult.

From now on, the system will also send notifications to parents or guardians connected through the family supervision feature. In addition to notifications, Meta will provide sources of information and guidance on steps that can be taken to help their child.

Nevertheless, the company said it will prioritise caution. In cases that remain not entirely clear, Meta can still send warnings to parents if there are indications of risky behaviour.

The feature is currently available to Instagram users with parental supervision enabled in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Meta aims to make the feature available globally to all users who activate the family supervision feature before the end of this year.

In addition, Meta is developing the capability to contact emergency services if a conversation with Meta AI indicates a safety risk requiring immediate handling. That feature is planned to apply to both teenage and adult users.

Meta is also extending the “Limited Content” setting to interactions with Meta AI. This means that if parents enable restrictions on sensitive content on Instagram, their child’s AI conversations will follow similar restrictions.