Meta is broadening its Teen Accounts initiative to include Facebook and Messenger, enhancing the safety measures for young users across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. This expansion is set to reach additional regions in the near future.
Enhanced Protections for Young Users
Originally launched on Instagram last September, the Teen Accounts feature automatically places adolescents in a more secure app environment, effectively limiting their exposure to inappropriate content and unwanted interactions. In a recent blog post, Meta emphasized its commitment to teen safety, stating, “We’re bringing our built-in protections to more of our platforms.”
Under the new guidelines, users under the age of 16 will be restricted from receiving messages from individuals they do not follow or have not previously interacted with. Only friends will have the ability to view and respond to their stories, while tags, mentions, and comments will also be confined to known contacts.
To encourage healthier usage patterns, teens will receive reminders to take breaks after one hour of daily use and will be placed in “Quiet mode” during the night, although specific hours for this feature have not been disclosed. Additionally, parents will play a more significant role in overseeing their teen’s activity, as users under 16 will require parental consent to modify default safety settings.
On Instagram, this age group will also be prohibited from going live without parental approval. Furthermore, they will need permission to disable a feature that blurs images suspected of containing nudity in direct messages.
This update arrives amid increasing pressure from lawmakers and health officials concerned about the effects of social media on adolescent mental health. In a statement to TechCrunch, Meta remarked, “These features are part of our broader effort to give teens safer, age-appropriate experiences across our apps.”
Since the launch of Teen Accounts on Instagram, over 54 million teens have transitioned to this safer environment. Meta reports that 97% of users aged 13 to 15 have opted to keep these built-in protections active. Research conducted by Ipsos, commissioned by Meta, reveals significant parental support for the initiative, with 94% of parents finding the Teen Accounts helpful and 85% believing that the features facilitate positive experiences for their teens on Instagram.
The expansion of these features to Facebook and Messenger highlights Meta’s ongoing efforts to address criticism and regulatory scrutiny while reinforcing its platforms with enhanced protections for younger audiences.
Meta deploys teen safety features to Facebook, Messenger
Meta is broadening its Teen Accounts initiative to include Facebook and Messenger, enhancing the safety measures for young users across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. This expansion is set to reach additional regions in the near future.
Enhanced Protections for Young Users
Originally launched on Instagram last September, the Teen Accounts feature automatically places adolescents in a more secure app environment, effectively limiting their exposure to inappropriate content and unwanted interactions. In a recent blog post, Meta emphasized its commitment to teen safety, stating, “We’re bringing our built-in protections to more of our platforms.”
Under the new guidelines, users under the age of 16 will be restricted from receiving messages from individuals they do not follow or have not previously interacted with. Only friends will have the ability to view and respond to their stories, while tags, mentions, and comments will also be confined to known contacts.
To encourage healthier usage patterns, teens will receive reminders to take breaks after one hour of daily use and will be placed in “Quiet mode” during the night, although specific hours for this feature have not been disclosed. Additionally, parents will play a more significant role in overseeing their teen’s activity, as users under 16 will require parental consent to modify default safety settings.
On Instagram, this age group will also be prohibited from going live without parental approval. Furthermore, they will need permission to disable a feature that blurs images suspected of containing nudity in direct messages.
This update arrives amid increasing pressure from lawmakers and health officials concerned about the effects of social media on adolescent mental health. In a statement to TechCrunch, Meta remarked, “These features are part of our broader effort to give teens safer, age-appropriate experiences across our apps.”
Since the launch of Teen Accounts on Instagram, over 54 million teens have transitioned to this safer environment. Meta reports that 97% of users aged 13 to 15 have opted to keep these built-in protections active. Research conducted by Ipsos, commissioned by Meta, reveals significant parental support for the initiative, with 94% of parents finding the Teen Accounts helpful and 85% believing that the features facilitate positive experiences for their teens on Instagram.
The expansion of these features to Facebook and Messenger highlights Meta’s ongoing efforts to address criticism and regulatory scrutiny while reinforcing its platforms with enhanced protections for younger audiences.