New Delhi: Instagram is rolling out a new safety feature aimed at parents of teens. In the coming weeks, the platform will start notifying parents if their
teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time. The move expands Instagram’s Teen Accounts and parental supervision tools.
The company says the feature is designed to alert parents early, without overwhelming them with unnecessary warnings. It comes at a time when online safety and teen mental health remain under global scrutiny, including in India, where many families now rely on digital tools for daily communication.
In the coming weeks, @instagram will begin notifying parents if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms clearly related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time. The alerts will provide parents with expert resources to help guide sensitive conversations.…
— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) February 26, 2026
How the new parental alerts will work
Instagram said that next week, parents and teens enrolled in supervision will be informed about the upcoming alerts. The system will track repeated search attempts for phrases promoting suicide or self-harm, phrases suggesting a teen wants to hurt themselves, and even general terms like “suicide” or “self-harm.”
If triggered, alerts will be sent to parents via email, text, or WhatsApp, along with an in app notification. When parents tap on it, they will see a full screen message explaining that their teen has repeatedly searched for these terms within a short time. They will also get expert-backed resources to help them approach sensitive conversations.
The rollout will begin in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada next week, with other regions to follow later this year.
What experts are saying
Child safety experts have supported the move. Dr Sameer Hinduja, Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, said, “When a young person searches about suicide or self-harm, empowering a parent to step in can be extremely important. The fact that Meta has now built this in is a meaningful step forward and is the kind of change that child safety experts have been pushing for.”
Vicki Shotbolt, CEO of Parent Zone, added, “It’s vital that parents have the information they need to support their teens. This is a really important step that should help give parents greater peace of mind – if their teen is actively trying to look for this type of harmful content on Instagram, they’ll know about it.”
Building on existing protections and AI monitoring
Instagram says it already blocks searches clearly linked to suicide and self-harm and redirects users to helplines and local support resources. It also hides such content from teens, even if shared by accounts they follow.
The company added that it will continue alerting emergency services when it becomes aware of someone at imminent risk of physical harm.
Interestingly, Instagram is not stopping at search. It confirmed that similar parental alerts are being built for certain AI experiences, which will notify parents if a teen attempts to engage in conversations about suicide or self-harm with its AI tools.
