Instagram Teen Accounts unveils new built-in protections to block nudity, livestreams
Instagram on Tuesday announced new built-in protections for Instagram Teen Accounts and has expanded its suite of features to the Facebook and Messenger applications.
"We're going to keep adding to Teen Accounts. We're going to keep talking to parents and make sure that it is speaking to them and that they know and understand what experiences their teen is having," Instagram Global Director for Public Policy Tara Hopkins told Fox News Digital during an interview at Meta.
According to Instagram, Teen Accounts will now offer more tools to address parents' concerns about how their teens spend their time on social media.
As part of these changes, teens under 16 will be prohibited from using the Instagram Live feature without a parent's permission.
Teens under 16 will also need parental approval to turn off a new feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity sent via direct messages (DMs).
On April 8, Teen Accounts will launch on Facebook and Messenger—a move that Meta says will bring parents greater peace of mind when using their suite of social media applications.
Instagram revealed that it has moved 54 million teens into Teen Accounts—with many more to go as the company pushes to roll out globally.
The company also shared data that found 97% of teens between 13 and 15 have kept their built-in protections active.
To better understand how parents navigate conversations with their teens about social media, Instagram recently commissioned a survey of 1,000 U.S. parents of teens between the ages of 13 and 17.
About 43% of parents said they struggle to determine if their teen has age-appropriate social media experiences, while 32% of parents who are at least somewhat aware of Instagram protections believe they are making beneficial decisions regarding their teen's social media use.
Over a quarter of parents aged 45+ (26%) find it hard to talk to their teen about social media because it doesn't seem like a big deal—compared to 18% of younger parents.
UFC AND META AGREE TO 'MULTI-YEAR' PARTNERSHIP THAT INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Hopkins told Fox News Digital that Instagram has taken multiple steps to engage with parents, providing updates to the Meta Family Center, collaborating with various academic and nonprofit organizations, co-sponsoring a parent-centric podcast and hosting Screen Smart programs across the United States.
"We see youth protection and keeping young people who are using our platforms safe as like our number one priority. And that sits really comfortably with all of the other priorities we have," she told Fox News Digital.
"We want parents to feel like we're on their side, we're taking the burden off them, we're placing teens into these more protective settings, we're allowing them to have the fun and the inspiration and the connectivity that Instagram, Facebook and Messenger really allows for," Hopkins continued.
In September, Instagram and Facebook parent Meta announced Teen Accounts. This safety implementation automatically sets teen accounts to private with the need to approve new followers, including new restrictions on messaging, sensitive content, and user interactions.
It also included new time limit reminders and a sleep mode feature—which mutes all notifications between 10 PM and 8 AM.
At the time, Antigone Davis, Meta's head of global safety, spoke with FOX Business Network's Madison Alworth in an exclusive interview about the new Teen Accounts and related safety features.
"It's really a game changer for parents," Davis said in the interview. "And with this launch, tens of millions of teens will have an entirely new experience on the platform. What we'll be doing is putting them into automatic protections if they're under the age of 18 and if they're under the age of 16, a parent will have to give them permission in order to change those settings."
During the interview, Alworth noted that the Senate-passed Kids Online Safety Act, which is pending in the House, would increase regulation of social media platforms and asked whether Instagram's Teen Accounts launch was linked to the legislation's progress.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
"This launch was really designed to take in parents' concerns, to take in their biggest concerns and respond specifically to those concerns," Davis said. "To the extent that policymakers are listening to parents, this change should answer a lot of those concerns."
In a recent survey conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Meta, 94% of parents surveyed said Teen Accounts are helpful. In comparison, 85% said Teen Accounts make it easier for them to help their teens have a good experience on Instagram.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
