Instagram teens is automatically setting teen accounts to private after criticism that social media companies have failed to protect young people’s welfare.
As pressure from governments, parents, and critics for making the network safer for children mounts, the company is making further efforts to make the network safe for minors.
The change goes into effect in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia on Tuesday. Anyone younger than 18 who opens a new account on Instagram will automatically be placed in the more restrictive teen accounts while people with current accounts will be migrated over within the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will have their accounts changed at a later date.
Meta will verify teen ages more often, particularly when adults use fake birthdays, by proactively identifying and restricting teen accounts pretending to be adults.
Private messages limited to followers or connections for teens’ safety. Restrictions on sensitive content. Reminders after 1-hour use, sleep mode from 10pm-7am for peaceful sleep.
These settings will be turned on automatically for all teens, but 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to turn them off. Kids under 16 will need their parents permission to do so.
Parents worry about teens seeing unwanted content, receiving unwanted contacts, and overspending on the app. According to Meta’s head of product, Naomi Gleit, teen accounts aim to address these concerns.
The firm faces lawsuits from US states over design features on Instagram and Facebook that allegedly harm youth, causing addiction. New York officials, including AG Letitia James, are working to implement a state law to protect children from addictive social media content.
More choice for parents
Meta, for instance, has faced criticism by not doing much in terms of trying to address the safety and mental health of teenagers using its platforms. For example, for kids, there will be a notification showing them they have spent 60 minutes on the app, yet that can be bypassed with a single click.
That is unless the child’s parents activate “parental supervision” mode, through which parents can limit teens’ time on Instagram to a specific amount, for example, 15 minutes.
In updating its policies, Meta has now taken the route to providing parents with more options concerning supervising their children’s accounts. Children under the age of 16 must receive permission from a parent or guardian before they can change their settings to less restrictive levels, and this can be done by setting up “parental supervision” on their accounts and connecting them to a parent or guardian.
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