In a move aimed at enhancing the safety of younger users, Meta is rolling out new ‘teen accounts’ on Instagram. This announcement trails a proposal by the Australian government to restrict social media access for minors.
Instagram users under the age of 18 will soon be part of ‘teen accounts,’ which grant parents more control over their children’s Instagram usage. These new settings will enable parents to block access during nighttime, monitor messages, and set daily usage limits. Initially, this will apply to new users, with existing teen accounts to follow suit.
Teenagers signing up for Instagram are already placed in the strictest privacy settings, barring adults from messaging them unless they follow each other and muting notifications at night. However, the new ‘teen account’ feature requires under-16 users to obtain parental permission to alter these settings. Even as 16-18 year olds can adjust settings independently, parents will still have the ability to implement new restrictions.
The introduction of ‘teen accounts’ follows the Australian government’s plans to introduce legislation raising the age at which children can access social media. The proposed age limit is yet to be defined but is speculated to be between 14 and 16. In contrast to some region-specific actions by Meta, this change is being implemented globally, affecting users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada along with Australia.
Meta’s director of global safety, Antigone Davis, emphasized that the decision was driven by parental concerns rather than governmental mandates. Davis stated, “Parents everywhere are thinking about these issues… It really does make the most sense to address parents’ concerns globally.” Although Davis did not dismiss the possibility of introducing similar changes to other apps like Facebook in the future, she highlighted the need to tailor measures specific to each platform.
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, expressed support for raising the access age to encourage more real-world interactions among children. He commented on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program, “What we want is to get our kids off their devices and onto the footy fields or netball courts, interacting with real people and having real experiences.” Nevertheless, Davis countered that social media can also provide meaningful experiences, particularly for teens engaged in activities like sports, who utilize these platforms for improving their skills.
If the Australian proposal passes, it could become one of the first countries to enforce such a ban. The UK is also monitoring the situation closely, with Technology Secretary Peter Kyle showing interest in the Australian model. Existing strict private settings for teens will transition to the new ‘teen account’ framework, requiring under-18s to approve new followers and filter sensitive content and offensive language in posts and messages.
The changes stem partly from internal insights. Nick Clegg, a senior executive at Meta, noted that current parental supervision features are often underutilized. “One of the things we do find … is that even when we build these controls, parents do not use them,” he remarked last week.
As Meta takes a significant step in enhancing parental control over teen accounts on Instagram, the initiative underlines a global approach to youth safety on social media. While governments like Australia and the UK contemplate raising the age restrictions for social media access, Meta’s move may reshape how teens interact with these platforms.
Source: Theguardian