social networks, 18.09.2024, 10:00 AM
Instagram has announced that it will make major changes to the way teenagers use the platform, claiming that the new measures will give young people more privacy and better protect them from harmful content and addiction to social networks.
The new rules will mean the profiles of millions of teenagers will be made private, so only people who follow them will be allowed to message or tag them, according to announcement published by Meta, which owns Instagram. The app will also now suggest to young users when they’ve been on the app for an hour to take a break, and turn off notifications sent after 10pm, in response to criticism that teenagers can’t get away from the platform even to sleep.
Another change is that teenagers will automatically be placed in what Instagram called its most restrictive content control setting, which it says will limit young users’ exposure to sensitive content such as that promoting cosmetic surgery.
Offensive words will be removed from teenagers’ comments and direct message requests, Meta announced, as part of its campaign to reduce abuse on the platform.
Users under the age of 16 will need parental permission to turn off the new restrictive settings, Meta said in its statement.
The changes will take effect over the next 60 days in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. The program will be launched in the European Union later this year, and worldwide in January.
“Too little and too late” – that’s the reaction of Instagram critics to the company’s new program, called “Teen Accounts”. They say these measures should have been introduced years ago, calling them “an attempt to pre-empt legislation”.
Under the new regime, teenagers will be required more often to verify their age, and the platform will use new technology to “proactively find accounts belonging to teenagers, even if the account has an adult’s date of birth,” Meta said in a statement.
Age verification tools and content censoring available to teenagers are inherently controversial, and civil liberties groups have strongly opposed the measures.
Still, some privacy advocates praised Meta for this, albeit belated, step in the right direction.
Source: www.informacija.rs
