Meta has upgraded the privacy and security features for users under the age of 18 on Instagram. Apart from this, Instagram has also introduced parental control, that is, now the control of the accounts of teenagers will be with their parents.
Accounts will be Teen by default.
Instagram has said that now all Instagram accounts under 18 years of age will be converted into "Teen Accounts", which will be private by default. The advantage of a private account is that only those people can contact the users of these accounts whom they follow and give permission.
Parental Control Tool
Apart from this, users under the age of 16 will be able to change the default i.e. private settings only with the permission of their parents. Meta has also released a new monitoring tool with the help of which parents will be able to control their child's account and see how much time they are spending on Instagram and with whom they are talking.
The decision had to be taken under compulsion.
Let us tell you that Meta, ByteDance's TikTok, and Google's YouTube are already facing hundreds of lawsuits filed by children and school districts over the ill effects of social media on children due to social media addiction. Last year, 33 US states, including California and New York, sued the company for misleading people about the horrors of its platform.
US Senate passes bills.
Let us remind you that users aged 13 years and above are allowed to sign up on major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. In July this year, the US Senate advanced two online safety bills which are The Kids Online Safety Act and The Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act.
These bills will force social media companies to ensure what impact their platforms have on children and adolescents. After the new update, Instagram users under the age of 18 will be notified to close the app after 60 minutes per day. These accounts will also have a default sleep mode, which will close the app at night.
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