Instagram makes teen accounts private as pressure mounts on the app to protect children
The teen accounts will be private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to.
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12ds agoInstagram has new rules for teenagers.
The goal is to keep them safe online after years of recent research, including from parent company Meta’s own studies, that found the platform was harmful to young people’s mental health.
Accounts under the age of 18 will now automatically:
- Be made private
- Have sensitive content hidden
- Only be able to receive messages from people they follow or are already connected to
- Have sensitive content restricted
- Be enabled into sleep mode between 10PM and 7AM
- Receive time limit reminders
Kids who are under the age of 16 will need their parent’s permission to turn off any of these settings.
Olena Zhadko teaches future educators about online learning at The Center for Teaching and Learning at Lehman College, and she says the best way to keep kids safe online is to create a safe space for them to open up.
“Have a conversation with your teen about, OK, well, you follow X, Y, and Z. Tell me why you follow them. Tell me how it makes you feel,” said Zhadko. “It's not about trying to control your teen's behavior, but really asking open-ended questions.”
In 2021, a former data scientist at Facebook, Frances Haugen, testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee that Instagram had a negative impact on teens' mental health, especially young girls. Haugen also leaked several internal company studies that showed officials were aware of these findings.
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