Meta is tightening its grip on how teens can use social media following the release of leaked documents that reveal how Instagram negatively impacts the mental health of teenagers.
In an effort to remedy the ongoing issue, Meta is introducing new monitoring and safeguarding features to protect its youngest users.
A range of child protection tools will be added to Meta’s Messenger app, allowing parents and guardians to see how much time their children spend on the app, to receive their updated contact lists, and to receive notifications if their teens report someone through Messenger.
Additionally, Messenger will now allow parents and teens to communicate directly through notifications and to sync their accounts.
Facebook’s new feature will allow parents to “nudge” their teens as a reminder to take a 20-minute break from the social media platform. Instagram will be introducing a similar feature, “nudging” teens that are using the app around nighttime hours or after too much time allocated towards scrolling through Reels.
Meta will also be focusing more strictly on what kind of content teens interact with on its apps by actively redirecting them and marketing educational content, such as travel or architecture.
Besides these changing policies, the tech giant is also testing a new feature on Instagram that actively limits unwanted contact with strangers, “especially for women.” Users will need to send invites to connect with non-followers and are no longer able to send photos, voice messages, or videos until their request is accepted.
This is Meta’s first attempt at regulating Messenger and Facebook with an array of new safeguarding features following the leaked documents about Instagram.
