Under the overhaul, accounts of users under the age of 18 will be made “private” by default in the coming weeks, meaning only followers approved by the account holder will be able to see their posts.
The app also plans to stop sending notifications to minors from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and introduce more supervision tools for adults, including a feature that lets parents see which accounts their children have sent messages to.
According to Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, the new settings are intended to reassure parents about their children’s safety online, particularly around inappropriate contact and content and excessive screen time.
These changes allow parents to set daily time limits for app usage, block teens from using Instagram at certain times, and view the categories of content they view.
Meta’s move comes as pressure continues to grow against the platform, as well as other social networks such as TikTok and Snapchat, where children and adolescents are increasingly exposed to bullying, pedophilia and content promoting self-harm.
It is worth noting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been particularly criticized recently for the risks that social networks pose to young people.
Several US states have filed lawsuits against his company – which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp – for deliberately attracting children to its apps without regard for the risks they may be exposed to.
