The
safety
and well-being of
adolescents
appears on the list of priorities for Meta, according to the latest
updates
it introduced this week on its social networks
and
.
So far, the company led by
Mark Zuckerberg
has
30 tools and functions
to help teenagers and their parents in the digital environment.
The first one he introduced was the ability to
block contacts
, in 2010.
Over the years and in this ongoing effort, both social networks announced
additional measures
to limit teens' exposure to sensitive content and
protect them from unwanted contact
.
Protection against unwanted messages and images
The new Instagram and Facebook safety features for parents.
Initially, Meta highlighted a new default setting that will allow teens
to receive messages only from people they know
or have decided to connect with.
This new setting will apply to new and existing teens under the age of 16 (or under 18 in certain countries).
Those already on Instagram and Facebook will see a
notification at the top of their
feed
informing them that their message settings are being "changed to help protect them from unwanted contacts."
With this configuration,
they will only be able to receive messages or be added to group chats by people they already follow or who are in their contacts
, providing them with greater security.
To all this, Meta launched a new feature designed to prevent teens from seeing
unwanted and potentially inappropriate images
in messages from people they are already connected with.
This measure particularly seeks to discourage teenagers from sending this type of content through private messages.
The feature will also
operate in encrypted chats
and is expected to launch later this year.
More parental monitoring features
Photo: Archive
Parental supervision
,
launched on Instagram in March 2022, has also been improved.
Parents will now be consulted to
approve or deny
change requests
into your teens' default security and privacy settings, giving them greater control.
These include changes such as
transitioning from a private account to public
or adjustments to Sensitive Content Control.
On the other hand, the function seeks
to facilitate offline conversations between parents and children
, allowing them to have a more harmonious management in the digital world and, as the company highlights, make decisions that benefit the family.
New features also include the ability for parents
to set time limits and schedule breaks
, understand when their teen blocks or shares that they have reported someone, and receive notifications when their teen changes their settings.
Additionally, parents using monitoring will be asked to
approve or deny their teens' (under 16) requests
to change their default security and privacy settings to a less strict state, rather than just receiving a notification. change.
To understand how it works, if a teen using monitoring tries to change their account from private to public, change their Sensitive Content Control from
"Less" to "Standard"
, or - now - tries to change their DM settings to receive news from people you don't follow,
their parents will receive a notification
asking them to approve or deny the request.
As Meta published on its blog, the updates reflect the commitment to creating
safe and positive environments for adolescents
, balancing privacy with protection against online risks.
SL