Meta Increases Security Features for Parents

Meta has recently announced further security measures for parents, enabling them to monitor their children’s use of social media and, more importantly, flag when sensitive and potentially harmful topics are discussed.

The security measure comes in the form of an alert, which lets a parent know their child is engaging in discussion specifically around self-harm or suicide. This alert tells the parent what was being discussed and provides support on how to talk to them about it – arming parents with the support they may need to broach particular topics. 

Who is This Security Update For?

Many of Meta’s updates and security measures are designed increase the tech giants protection of young users, without completely overriding their user experience. This particular update creates a push notification that is received on the parents’ device, keeping them informed of their child’s activity, without causing alarm or further distress. 

The aim is to catch signals early and flag potential issues which could lead to further harm without the right intervention. And with AI chatbots and fake accounts of increasing concern across social media channels, it seems as if this update couldn’t come soon enough.

University studies suggest that 1 in 8 young people are using AI chatbots for mental health support, and so it seems more important than ever that those conversations are being monitored and are flagged if and when they detect troubling comments. Adding this security measure to an increase in comment monitoring and social media interactions between users is crucial for user safety, especially those of the younger generation.

We’d love to know what you think about this update and how you would respond to a flagged alert relating to your own child’s activity. Is this something you’d like to see on social media apps beyond those owned by Meta?