LONDON: Parents of teenagers using Facebook or Instagram’s artificial intelligence (AI) chat service will be sent alerts by the social media giant if discussions about suicide or self-harm are detected.
Meta, which owns the social media platforms, said it wants to keep parents informed "if we become aware that their teen may be in distress”.
The move, which will only apply to accounts which have parental supervision settings switched on, comes after the social networking giant announced in February that it will notify parents if their teen repeatedly tries to search for suicide or self-harm related terms in a short period of time.
The latest announcement, made on July 16, will see parents alerted if suicide or self-harm are discussed in Meta AI – the firm’s artificial intelligence chat service.
But online safety campaigning organisation Molly Rose Foundation has repeated its warnings that alerts "will leave parents panicked” and insisted Meta must focus on "fixing the safety issues at the heart of their products”.
The organisation’s chief executive Andy Burrows said: "This is a risky move that forces disclosures on young people when they need to be offered expert advice and support.
"Parents would want to know if their child is struggling but a push notification will leave parents panicked, so it’s crucial that robust support is in place for parents to have the sensitive conversations that will follow.
"Our research shows Meta’s platforms still contribute heavily to suicide and self-harm risks online and their focus should be on fixing the safety issues at the heart of their products.”
The Molly Rose Foundation was set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful content online.
The social networking firm accepted such alerts may be "distressing” for parents, but said they will "err on the side of caution” when manual decisions are made to send such notifications.
Meta said: "We understand how distressing these alerts may be for a parent to receive.
"That’s why, as we continue to improve our detection, all chats flagged by our AI will be manually reviewed before an alert is sent.
"If a teen’s intent is ambiguous, we’ll err on the side of caution and alert the parent.
"While that means we may sometimes notify parents when there may not be real cause for concern, we feel this is the right starting point, and we’ll continue to monitor to help make sure we’re in the right place.”
The alerts are live in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, and are to be made available around the world by the end of this year. – dpa
Those suffering from problems can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service at 03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392; Talian Kasih at 15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp; Jakim’s (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) family, social and community care centre at 0111-959 8214 on WhatsApp; and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur at 03-7627 2929 or go to befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers nationwide and operating hours, or email sam@befrienders.org.my.
