New security options to protect children on Instagram.
Meta said that Instagram, a social network owned by him, has introduced new security tools that are intended for parents to protect children.
Parents, regulators and lawmakers have long called for an increase in the number of teens on Instagram where a profile can be created by anyone over the age of 13.
Meta has now introduced the Family Center, a centralized center of security tools that parents can use to control what their children can see on Instagram, but also on other platforms owned by the company in question.
New monitoring tools provide parents and guardians with transparency and key insights into the habits of new Instagram users. The tools will help parents keep track of how much time a child spends using the app, they will be informed of the profiles that children have recently followed and those that have followed them, and they will receive notifications for each profile that children display.
The tools are already available on Instagram for US users and will be available to users worldwide in the coming months.
Meta describes the new tools as “the first step in a long journey”, but does not explain why it took so long to take the first steps in protecting teenagers.
Currently, new Instagram users need to enable security tools on their profiles. Instagram plans to introduce new control options, including a way for parents to limit app usage time to specific hours.
Instagram faced harsh criticism last year for the lack of features created to protect children.