On Tuesday, Instagram made a big announcement to protect young teens from danger and inappropriate content they encounter on the platform. The popular social media platform has implemented a new “teen account” setting that will turn millions of teens’ accounts into private accounts and moderate the content they can consume on the platform.
According to Meta, the social media platform will automatically apply the new “teen account” setting to every kid under 18. However, after a few updates, 16- and 17-year-olds can choose whether to be restricted or consume all types of content. Kids ranging from 13 to 15 years old will require parental approval for any such changes.
This is all the result of the government’s pressure on Meta and lawsuits after a whistleblower testified to a Senate Sub-Committee in November, stating that top Meta executives, along with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, had repeatedly ignored warnings regarding the safety of teens on the platform. A few court documents and lawsuits against the company also alleged that Mark purposely refused to shut down the accounts belonging to kids under 13, making them a target for the child predators on the platform, a number that is quite high.
Along with this, Instagram also introduced a few more ‘rules’ or ‘settings’ to ensure the kids are not negatively affected. For instance, they have introduced constant reminders to limit the usage time. Moreover, the “Sleep Mode” will ensure that the user won’t receive any notifications when the mode is enabled.
The changes will be made globally within the next 60 days, starting with countries like the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia. It plans to roll out the setting worldwide later this year and next. This is one of the most significant attempts to moderate the content consumed by teens. Will it be successful? It is yet to be seen.
