Meta on Tuesday announced the creation of “Teen Accounts,” designed to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with Instagram.
Many experts and authorities accuse the hugely popular photo-sharing app of damaging the mental health of its youngest users through addiction to the app, bullying, and body image and self-esteem issues.
“’Teen Accounts’ is a significant update, designed to give parents peace of mind,” said Antigone Davis, Meta vice president in charge of safety issues.
Photo: Reuters
Under the new policy, users aged 13 to 17 will have private accounts by default, with tighter safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see.
Thirteen to 15-year-olds who want a more public profile and fewer restrictions — because they want to become influencers, for example — will need to obtain permission from their parents. The new rules apply to both existing and new users to the platform.
“This is a big change. It means making sure that we do this really well,” Davis said.
For the past year, pressure has been building across the globe against the social media giant founded by Mark Zuckerberg and its rivals. In October last year, about 40 US states filed a complaint against Meta’s platforms, accusing them of harming the “mental and physical health of young people,” due to the risks of addiction, cyberbullying or eating disorders.
Meanwhile, Australia will soon set the minimum age for its social networks at between 14 and 16.
For the time being, Meta refuses to check the age of all users, in the name of confidentiality.
“When we have a strong signal that someone’s age is wrong, we’re going to ask them to verify their age, but we don’t want to make three billion people have to provide IDs,” Davis said.
It would be simpler and more effective if age checks were carried out at the level of the smartphone’s mobile operating system, i.e. Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS, she said.
“They actually have significant information about the age of users. And if they were to share that broadly across all the apps that teens use, that would provide peace of mind for parents,” she said.
It is not clear whether the new protections will be enough to reassure governments and online safety advocates, such as Social Media Victims Law Center founder Matthew Bergman.
“Instagram is addictive. Instagram leads kids down dangerous rabbit holes, where they are shown not what they want to see, but what they can’t look away from,” he said.
His group represents 200 parents whose children committed suicide “after being encouraged to do so by videos recommended by Instagram or TikTok.”
Bergman points to many cases, in which young girls have developed serious eating disorders.
Meta now prevents the promotion of extreme diets on its platforms, among other measures taken over the past few years.
These measures are “baby steps, but nevertheless, steps in the right direction,” Bergman said.
Groups should make their platforms less addictive — “and therefore a little less profitable,” he said.
This can be done without the platforms losing their quality for users, he said.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS