• 2 min read
Meta AI will alert parents about teen self-harm chats
Meta is rolling out parent alerts when teens discuss suicide or self-harm with Meta AI, starting in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.
Image: 9to5Mac
Meta says parents can now receive alerts if their teens discuss suicide or other forms of self-harm with Meta AI on Instagram, Facebook, or Meta Horizons. The feature requires families to opt in through Meta’s supervision tools for parents and guardians, then choose which accounts to supervise.
The company says the update builds on existing safeguards. If a teen appears to be thinking about suicide or self-harm, Meta AI already points them to crisis helplines and urges them to contact a parent or another trusted adult, such as a counselor. With the new system, supervising parents will also be proactively notified if a teen’s Meta AI chat suggests they may be at risk, based on signals developed with experts.
Meta said all chats flagged by its AI will be manually reviewed before an alert is sent. If a teen’s intent is unclear, the company said it will err on the side of caution and notify the parent anyway, even if that sometimes results in alerts where there may not be a real cause for concern.
The feature is currently available in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
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Meta also said it plans to extend its emergency-response system to Meta AI conversations. The company already alerts emergency services when it detects a credible risk of suicide in a Facebook or Instagram post, and said it made more than 19,000 such referrals worldwide last year to help first responders carry out wellness checks.
If you’re feeling at risk yourself, the source notes that you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat at 988lifeline.org, call 911, or go to an ER for a mental health emergency.
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Sophia unpacks the invisible wars happening on our networks. Covering cybersecurity, privacy legislation, and cryptography, she exposes how our data is weaponized and defended. Before joining for(geeks), she spent years as a penetration tester. She's the reason the rest of the team uses physical security keys.
via 9to5Mac
