Instagram announced the creation of “Teen Accounts“with the aim of better protecting underage users from the dangers associated with using the social network. Meta’s vice president, Antigone Davis, explained that the measure is “An important update, intended to give parents peace of mind“.
Starting this Tuesday, new users under 18 years of age of United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia will be assigned to a specific account type with specific settings for their age range. Additionally, those who already have an existing profile will be migrated in the next 60 days.
Instagram launched new measures for minors
According to details from Meta, the magnate’s company Mark Zuckerbergnew underage users of the social network will be assigned “ Teen Accounts“This new configuration is expected to reach the countries of the European Union at the end of this year.
In practice, those Internet users who are between 13 to 15 years will have a default private profilewith guarantees on who can contact them and what content they can see. Private messages are currently restricted, so teenagers can only receive them from people that they follow or are already connected to.
Adults will be able to monitor their children’s activities on the social network and act accordingly, even blocking the app. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger also is tightening its age restrictions.
The Meta board recognized that adolescents They may lie about their age when creating a profile on the social network. That’s why the new settings will also require them to verify your age in more casesto prevent them from opening a profile with an adult birthday.
Along these lines, the Californian company also detailed that it is building technology that proactively finds accounts of teenagers pretending to be adults and automatically places them in accounts restricted for teenagers. “From now on, if a teenager tries to change their date of birth, We will ask you to prove your age“, Davis.
Teenagers who want a public profile and fewer restrictions – for example, because they want to become influencers – will have to get permission from their parents. These new measures will apply to both new users and those who want to be social media users. as well as those who are already registered as if they are new to the platform, who will be “migrated”.
More regulations against sensitive content and addictive use
In line with the quest to protect underage users, Meta also announced that “sensitive content“, such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited. In addition, teens will also receive notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a ” will be enabledsleep mode” which disables notifications and sends automatic replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
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While these settings will be enabled for all users under 18 years of age, young people under 18 years of age will be able to use the app. 16 and 17 year olds will be able to deactivate them. Below that limit, young people will need their parents’ permission to modify their account settings.
Meta’s product manager Naomi Gleit explained: “The three concerns we’re hearing from parents are that their teens are watching content they don’t want to see or what are they being contacted by people who do not want to be contacted or what are they spending too much time on the application“That is why the launch of the new “Teenage Accounts” is focused on addressing these three themes.
The announcement comes at a time when the company is facing strong criticism accusing them of not having sufficient tools to provide a healthy application for minors. In October 2023, some forty states in the United States filed a complaint against Meta platforms accusing them of damaging “the physical and mental health of young people“, due to the risks of addiction, cyberbullying or eating disorders.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
