Instagram Rolls Out New Features For Teen Safety

Popular photo-sharing app Instagram has rolled out some new safety features for its teenage users to default young people into private accounts and make it harder for “suspicious” adults to make unwanted contact.

Instagram has on Tuesday introduced protections for young users: It’s making new accounts private by default for kids under 16, blocking some adults from interacting with teens on its platform, and restricting how advertisers can target teenagers.

The changes come as the company is under pressure from lawmakers, regulators, parents and child-safety advocates worried about the impact of social media on kids’ safety, privacy and mental health.

On the other hand, the application is also taking steps to prevent what it calls “unwanted contact from adults.” It says adults who have shown “potentially suspicious behaviour” — such as if they’ve been blocked or reported by young people — will have limited ability to interact with and follow teens.

For example, they won’t see teenagers’ posts among the recommendations in Instagram’s Explore and Reels sections, and Instagram won’t suggest they follow teens’ accounts.

Earlier, the company had launched a new tool to prohibit adults from sending Direct-Messages (DMs) to kids who do not follow them.

Instagram aimed to introduce ‘safety prompts’ for kids who don’t follow adults sending messages to them.

An option focusing on the “safety” of users will appear to teens when they DM adults who have been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behaviour.”

Several notices will appear whenever a suspicious user is spotted texting the teenagers.

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