Bandung, IndonesiaSentinel.com — Meta has introduced “Teen Account”, an enhanced privacy features and parental controls for Instagram accounts belonging to users under the age of 18. These moves respond to growing concerns about the negative effects of social media on young users. Thus, the company will automatically transitioning all designated Instagram accounts for teenagers into “Teen Accounts,” which will now default to private settings.
Instagram stated on its official websites, Teen Account will help ensure teens’ time is well spent by limiting who can contact teens and the content they see. With these changes, users in this age group will only be able to receive messages and be tagged by accounts they follow or are already connected with.
While also, teens will automatically be placed into the most restrictive setting of Instagram sensitive content control, which limits the type of sensitive content teens see in places like Explore and Reels, such as content that shows people fighting or promotes cosmetic procedures.
This content sensitivity settings will be adjusted to a more restrictive level. Users under the age of 16 will only be able to modify these default settings with parental consent, while parents will also gain access to new tools allowing them to monitor who their children are interacting with and limit their app usage.
Additionally, Instagram added time limiting feature for teens account. Teens will get notifications telling them to leave the app after 60 minutes each day. Meanwhile, between 10 PM and 7 AM, sleep mode will be turned on which will mute notifications overnight and send auto-replies to DMs.
Negative Impact of Social Media
According to research cited by Reuters, several studies have shown a link between social media use and higher rates of depression, anxiety, and learning difficulties, particularly among young users. teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media are twice as likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Social media use can also fuel body image issues, disrupt eating habits and sleep quality, and encourage social comparison and low self-esteem, especially among teenage girls.
Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube have all faced hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of children and school districts, alleging that these platforms are addictive and harmful to minors. Last year, 33 U.S. states, including California and New York, sued social media companies, accusing them of misleading the public about the dangers posed by their platforms.
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Currently, major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allow users as young as 13 to create accounts. Meta’s latest move comes three years after it halted the development of a version of Instagram specifically targeted at teenagers, following pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups citing safety concerns.
In July, the U.S. Senate introduced two bills aimed at online safety: the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. These bills would hold social media companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on children and teens, signaling a broader effort to regulate the tech industry’s influence on young users.
As concerns over the mental health effects of social media on teenagers continue to mount, Meta’s latest privacy enhancements reflect an attempt to address the challenges while offering parents greater control over their children’s digital experiences.
(Raidi/Agung)
