Instagram Introduces New Teen Safety Settings
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As part of new adolescent safety settings, when minors under the age of 16 join Instagram, their accounts will immediately be made private.
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Instagram protects minors from creeps, maybe?
For young users, Instagram is providing additional safety measures: It's making new accounts for kids under 16 private by default, banning some adults from communicating with children on its platform, and limiting how marketers can target teenagers.
The adjustments come as the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app faces increased pressure from politicians, regulators, parents, and child-safety advocates concerned about social media's impact on children's safety, privacy, and mental health.
Karina Newton, Instagram's head of public policy, told NPR: "We want to keep young people safe, we want to give them good experiences, and we want to help teach them, as they use our platforms, to develop healthy and quality habits when they're using the Internet and apps and social media."
Teens with public Instagram profiles will receive messages explaining the benefits of switching to a private account and how to do so. Around 80% of young people in testing selected to have a "private account" when joining up according to the company.
