Keeping in mind the safety of teenagers, Meta Platforms has further strengthened the privacy and parental control of Instagram accounts of users under the age of 18. The company said Meta will port all teen accounts to private accounts by default. Users of such accounts will only be able to send messages and tag those accounts they follow or with whom they are already connected.
Not only this, sensitive content can now be set as the most restrictive by going to the settings. Users under the age of 16 will be able to change the default settings only with the permission of their parents. Parents will also get the option to limit the use of the app to monitor the behavior of their children. Under the latest update, Instagram users under the age of 18 will be notified to close the app after 60 minutes every day.
Let us tell you that many studies have found that excessive use of social media is leading to high levels of adolescent depression and anxiety. Meta, ByteDance's TikTok, and Google's YouTube have already faced hundreds of lawsuits from children and schools over the addictive nature of social media.
Meta was sued by 33 US states.
Last year, 33 US states, including California and New York, sued Meta for misleading the public about the dangers of its platforms. The states alleged that Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allow users as young as 13 to sign up.
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