Popular social network Instagram has announced via the platform’s official blog that it is introducing several new features in an effort to protect underage users from being bullied or targeted. Instagram will now alert users if it detects those with “potentially suspicious behaviour” and will prevent adults from messaging teens who don’t follow them.
1. The threats of social networks
Many people have experienced cyber bullying and harassment through various social networks and the safety of social media users is a constant issue, especially those of a younger age. Although nearly all social networks require users to be at least 13 years old in order to open an account, it can be easy for adolescents under this age to get around these controls and create social media accounts, either with or without the knowledge or permission of their parents. This then exposes them to risks like harassment from unknown adults, unwanted contacts, and unsolicited explicit material.
Some updates on what we’re doing to keep teens safe on Instagram ❤️ Including:
— Instagram (@instagram) March 16, 2021
🔒 Restricting DMs between teens and adults they don’t follow
🤔 Prompting teens to be careful in DMs even with adults they’re connected to
🙋 Encouraging teens to make their accounts private pic.twitter.com/l1PZ9uwzeG
2. New features
In an effort to prevent this, Instagram has announced it is implementing several features to make the environment safer for younger users. These features include:
- The platform will use artificial intelligence technology to determine the real age of users so that they can prevent adults with dubious intentions from posing as teenagers and vice versa. This is to ensure minors are not exposed to unpleasant situations.
- Instagram will prevent users of legal age from sending messages to minors under 18 who do not follow them. If an adult tries to contact a teenager they will receive a notification that says ‘You cannot post to this account unless they follow you.’
- Adults who send too many friend requests or messages to minors will be detected and labelled as users with ‘potentially suspicious behaviour.’ This will alert younger users and give them the option to block, report or restrict the adult.
- There will be a Guide for Parents so that they have the necessary information on safety tools and privacy settings and can help their children navigate safely on Instagram and other social networks.
In their statement Instagram said that protecting young people on the platform is important to them, stating, ‘Today, we’re sharing updates on new features and resources as part of our ongoing efforts keep our youngest community members safe. We’re also providing an update on our work to understand age in a way that helps keep people — especially young people — safe. We have dedicated teams focused on youth safety, and we work closely with experts to inform the features we develop.
The new Instagram changes will be implemented starting this month in some countries, however the company hopes to ‘have them available everywhere soon’.
