Tokyo: The Japanese branch of US social media company Instagram announced plans to introduce a new feature this year aimed at notifying parents if their children engage with content related to suicide or self-harm.

According to Anadolu Agency, Instagram, owned by Meta, is also planning to implement a feature restricting access to drug-related and dangerous behavior content. This development was reported by The Japan News on Wednesday. The new system will allow parents of users aged 13 to 17 to receive notifications through the app or email if their accounts are connected to their children’s and they repeatedly search for suicide-related content. This feature has already been implemented in the US and the UK.

In addition to the suicide-related notifications, a separate feature will be introduced to limit teenagers’ access to content that includes drug-related material, extreme language such as threats, and dangerous activities like shooting guns. Instagram already restricts the visibility of posts that contain sexual imagery, alcohol, or tobacco.