Kids under 16 will need parental consent to livestream on Instagram
Meta Platforms, the owner of Instagram, announced on Tuesday that users under the age of 16 will now require parental approval to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages they receive. This decision is part of Meta’s efforts to enhance safety measures for teenagers on its platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.
In September, Meta introduced a teen account program for Instagram to empower parents with more control over their children’s online activities. This initiative was launched in response to growing concerns about the negative impact of social media on young people. The company is now expanding these safety measures to Facebook and Messenger, in addition to Instagram.
The new changes will initially be rolled out in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia, before being implemented globally in the coming months. Under the updated guidelines, teenagers under the age of 16 will need parental consent to use Instagram Live and to disable the feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity in direct messages.
Furthermore, Meta is extending the protections available to teen Instagram users to Facebook and Messenger. These safeguards include setting teen accounts to private by default, blocking messages from strangers, restricting sensitive content like violent videos, encouraging users to take breaks after 60 minutes of usage, and pausing notifications during bedtime hours.
“Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger will offer similar, automatic protections to limit inappropriate content and unwanted contact, as well as ways to ensure teens’ time is well spent,” Meta stated in a blog post. Since the launch of the teen account program in September, over 54 million teen accounts have been created.
Overall, Meta’s latest safety measures aim to create a safer online environment for teenagers across its platforms. By requiring parental approval for certain features and implementing automatic protections for teen accounts, Meta is taking proactive steps to address concerns about the impact of social media on young users.
