Instagram Makes All Teen Accounts Private (npr.org) 46
Instagram has introduced new safety features that make teenage accounts private by default, enhance parental supervision, and set messaging restrictions to protect young users, requiring parental approval for changes. NPR reports: Meta said users under 16 will now need a parent's approval to change the restricted settings, dubbed "Teen Accounts," which filter out offensive words and limit who can contact them. "It's addressing the same three concerns we're hearing from parents around unwanted contact, inappropriate contact and time spent," said Naomi Gleit, Meta's head of product, in an interview with NPR. With teens all being switched to private accounts, they can only be messaged or tagged by people they follow. Content from accounts they don't follow will be in the most restrictive setting, and the app will make periodic screen time reminders under a revamped "take a break" feature. [...]
Meta requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account. Social media researchers, however, have long noted that young people can lie about their age to get on the platform and may have multiple fake accounts, known as "finstas," to avoid detection by their parents. Officials at Meta say they have built new artificial intelligence systems to detect teens who lie about their age. This is in addition to working with British company Yoti, which analyzes someone's face from their photos and estimates an age. Meta has partnered with the company since 2022. Since then, Meta has required teens to prove their age by submitting a video selfie or a form of identification. Now, Meta says, if a young person tries to log into a new account with an adult birthday, it will place them in the teen protected settings.
While parental supervision on Instagram still requires both a teen and parent to opt in, the new policies add a feature that allows parents to see who their teens have been recently messaging (though not the content of the messages) and what subjects they are exploring on the app. Meta is hoping to avoid one worrisome situation: Someone who is not a parent finding a way to oversee a teen's account. "If we determine a parent or guardian is not eligible, they are blocked from the supervision experience," Meta wrote in a white paper about Tuesday's new child safety measures. [...] Meta points out that parents will be limited to viewing about three dozen topics that their teens are interested in, including things like outdoor activities, animals and music. Meta says the topic-viewing is less about parents surveilling kids and more about learning about a child's curiosities. Still, some of the new Instagram features for teens will be aimed at filtering out sensitive content from the app's Explore Page and on Reels, the app's short-form video service.
Meta requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account. Social media researchers, however, have long noted that young people can lie about their age to get on the platform and may have multiple fake accounts, known as "finstas," to avoid detection by their parents. Officials at Meta say they have built new artificial intelligence systems to detect teens who lie about their age. This is in addition to working with British company Yoti, which analyzes someone's face from their photos and estimates an age. Meta has partnered with the company since 2022. Since then, Meta has required teens to prove their age by submitting a video selfie or a form of identification. Now, Meta says, if a young person tries to log into a new account with an adult birthday, it will place them in the teen protected settings.
While parental supervision on Instagram still requires both a teen and parent to opt in, the new policies add a feature that allows parents to see who their teens have been recently messaging (though not the content of the messages) and what subjects they are exploring on the app. Meta is hoping to avoid one worrisome situation: Someone who is not a parent finding a way to oversee a teen's account. "If we determine a parent or guardian is not eligible, they are blocked from the supervision experience," Meta wrote in a white paper about Tuesday's new child safety measures. [...] Meta points out that parents will be limited to viewing about three dozen topics that their teens are interested in, including things like outdoor activities, animals and music. Meta says the topic-viewing is less about parents surveilling kids and more about learning about a child's curiosities. Still, some of the new Instagram features for teens will be aimed at filtering out sensitive content from the app's Explore Page and on Reels, the app's short-form video service.
What it's supposed to be about: protecting kids (Score:3, Interesting)
What it's actually about: protecting kids from any information originating outside the bubble we've prepared for them.
It's obviously not a coincidence that Facebook / Instagram also just banned Russia Today. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/... [www.cbc.ca]
Re:What it's supposed to be about: protecting kids (Score:4, Insightful)
What it's actually about: protecting kids from any information originating outside the bubble we've prepared for them.
What it's ACTUALLY actually about: Looking good in front of lawmakers, regulators, attorneys general, parents, and the general public.
"protecting kids from any information originating outside the bubble we've prepared for them" is a means to that end, not and end in and of itself. At least not if you are Instagram's Legal and PR departments.
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What it's actually about: protecting kids from any information originating outside the bubble we've prepared for them.
What it's ACTUALLY actually about: Looking good in front of lawmakers, regulators, attorneys general, parents, and the general public.
In a way that will not interfere with revenue, and preferably, actually increase it. But never reduce it.
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"What it's ACTUALLY actually about: Looking good in front of lawmakers, regulators, attorneys general, parents, and the general public."
No one in the public asked Facebook to ban Iranian, Venezuelan and Palestinian accounts, like they have been doing for years now. No one asked them to remove posts and accounts for using the word zionist. It's not that they do it to appease the govt, but rather because they share all the enemies of the US secstate blob.
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Yeah, but what's really REALLY going on, is that they're setting the age at 16, in preparations for the eventual changing of the national age of consent from 18 to 16 (already this way in a few states).
I mean it's right there in the summary (Score:1)
It doesn't seem to restrict their access to information, at least not information from credible sources. It might stop them from getting their head pumped full of nonsense from any one of the thousand and one right-wing botnets out there but that's a feature not a bug.
As for Russia today they got caught, again, violating US sanctions by funneling money into right-wing influencer
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Does setting private an account prevent messaging to that account? Even if you have to add them first, I dont think this will limit it much as kids who are alone, feel alone, want to find worth, etc, can be easily manipulated even with "friends before messaging" is set.
Its something to help, but it is also an easy exploit.
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What it's actually about: protecting kids from any information originating outside the bubble we've prepared for them.
That is not at all exclusive of what you wrote in the title. Kids minds are incredibly easy to influence. Controlling information is precisely the point of parenting and raising kids - yes in the name of protection. You as your parent don't raise your kid by letting them loose in general to be influenced by literally anyone who wants to talk to them, you put effort into curating their lives - in some case too much (see homeschooling / dictating what is and isn't science in school).
Setting a system to preven
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"That is not at all exclusive of what you wrote in the title"
The bubble isn't just for kids, it's been curated for all of us, and banning RT is also for our "protection" since even adults apparently can't be trusted with what they read. This isn't about whether social media itself is bad for teenagers, have even you seen anyone try to claim otherwise? This is about social media platforms controlling what news people can access
"That is obvious why? Because you don't understand the statistics of coincidences?
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I despise censorship but I recognize it is necessary: A child doesn't have the experience to recognize a toxic channel. A child doesn't have the discipline to change the channel. A lot of 'normal' adults doom-scroll, and it takes time to recover their mental stability. FFS, look at how many adults believe in Capital Hill's pedophile ring, or Trump is a virtual or the 'genuine' messiah. There's a big difference between hiding sexual organs/sexual education and hiding a demand to "do something" about Sat
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You are obviously paranoid, and should stop reading 4chan and Fox for your news.
Russia Today is actively interfering with US elections.
Get outside the bubble *you* are in before trying to pop other people's.
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"Russia Today is actively interfering with US elections.
Get outside the bubble"
What a juxtaposition there. I can really hear MSNBC blaring in the background as I read it.
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You are either a Russian Bot, a Russian Troll or a useful idiot.
If yo aren't familiar with how Russia is interfering in the US elections in a big way, I suggest you educate yourself before continuing to embarrass yourself.
Seems easy enough to defeat (Score:1)
Not trivial, but easy enough* for a determined 15 year old of normal intelligence. A 12 year old, not so much: They may be able to follow their big brother/sister's instructions and be able to create the account and use it for awhile but it's too hard for most 12-year-olds to "act 17" consistently enough to fool a well-trained AI or human. Any 12 year old pretending to be 17 every day is either going to get good at "being 17" quickly or they will be caught out.
I suspect the "big win" for Instagram is tha
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How complicated is it to just sign up for multiple accounts? If one gets banned, sign up for another. I mean, really, most 10 year olds can figure that out.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
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Sure. How about an experiment where you delete your current email account, create a new one, then try to get in contact with all your friends, acquaintances, and subscriptions. It's worse than losing your credit cards.
Same with teen accounts. If you create a fictitious adult account and try to contact other 10 year olds, goodbye account. If you create a new teen account, you're right back in the restricted zone but with all your contacts gone.
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Go ask a 10 year old how it works. They'll explain it to you. Or not, you being a creepy adult and all.
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How about an experiment where you delete your current email account, create a new one, then try to get in contact with all your friends, acquaintances, and subscriptions. It's worse than losing your credit cards.
For a teen? Easy as pie: just send a mass message to all WhatsApp contacts: this is my new Insta. Well, maybe not all contacts, exclude the parents.
AI to the rescue (Score:2)
AI could do a lot by just flagging and slowing down, demonetizing, filtering Instagram / tictok photos video clips which exist only to feature a clothed butt or clothed chest of a a person seeing to only monetize their appearance.
And then go after the clickbait photo tags.
Is this supposed to do any good? (Score:3)
How many teens are putting their real birthdate on their accounts? They may have a "parent approved" instagram/Facebook account, but I'd guarantee the vast majority also have a second account with an 18+ birthdate, with their parents and any school teachers/officials blocked.
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Finsta and rinsta have been terms for almost a decade.
http://finsta.urbanup.com/ [urbanup.com]
Doesn't Facebook ID you? (Score:1)
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You're over estimating how much teenage kids give a shit about either Facebook or Instagram. Most kids don't even have one account let alone two. The loss of the incoming generation was a major issue for Facebook / Instagram numbers as it's user population ages. Kids are too busy on TikTok to care.
no minors on Meta (Score:4, Interesting)
All minors I know give year of birth so they seem to be at least 18, and conveniently change that once they actually reach that age.
So far for all their efforts to protect the children.
Should have thought of that before you gave them that phone.
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The opinions of childless people on this particular issue have no value.
First, a simple fact the childless can't seem to comprehend: It is impossible for a parent to monitor their child 100% of the time.
Second: Your kid will have a phone. You can't stop this. It doesn't matter if you refuse to provide one. It doesn't matter if you search their room daily for contraband phones. They will find a way. They have a lot of free time and are highly motivated.
Third: You'll probably give them a phone anyway be
Re: no minors on Meta (Score:2)
Why does a childless incel know anything about how the minors he "knows" get around website age restrictions?
You're free to assume and bold to state, but you're wrong: I am a parent. My offspring just like all their friends were very young when they got their devices and they all lied about their ages. And no, I'm not one to forbid. They're smart enough, but that doesn't mean they're not up against some of the most abusive and purposely addictive platforms ever made.
Hey, back in the day we'd get our first c
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Second: Your kid will have a phone. You can't stop this. It doesn't matter if you refuse to provide one. It doesn't matter if you search their room daily for contraband phones. They will find a way. They have a lot of free time and are highly motivated.
As the parent of a pre-teen: she won't have a phone and she won't have a subscription without my knowledge. But, of course, she already has a phone with my knowledge. And Family Link (parental control app on Android) is useful to put some limits on her phone use. Also, she lies about her age to the apps because she learned this from me, many apps simply suck when in "child mode".
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Well no minors on Meta period. It's no secret that the platform has really struggled to get any traction with kids in the age of TikTok. Facebook and Instagram aren't cool anymore. Your parents are on that platform, lame.
good now we can lay the responsibilty \ blame (Score:2)
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Parents need help. Government is involved with underage sex, drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, this is little different.
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Er ... (Score:2)
Instagram Makes All Teen Accounts Private
17 and 18 are also "teen". Just sayin'
Why does big tech hate parents? (Score:4, Interesting)
the new policies add a feature that allows parents to see who their teens have been recently messaging (though not the content of the messages)
The content of messages can be very important. Let me tell you a story:
My wife and I were required to foster for a year before the agency we were using would certify us to adopt. A few days after completing all of their trainings, we were asked to take an emergency placement. This turned out to be an 11-year-old boy with ... a lot of problems. After a few days, we decided it would be okay to give him phone so that he could stay in contact with us while he was outside playing with the neighborhood kids. He was 11 and seemed to be a good kid. How much trouble could he get in to?
Before the week was out, we had the police at our house, because of the messages he had been sending. We took the phone away immediately, of course, but that was even less effective than the parental control app we used. In the six months he was with us, he acquired at least 8 phones, with service, somehow, between school, supervised visits, and playing in the yard. He sent pictures of his genitals to his school teacher. He sent lewd, vulgar, and threatening messages to a neighbor girl. He threatened and tried to scam several people he used to know. It was unbelievable. We found most of his phones within a few days of his acquiring them, but it was astonishing how easily he managed to supply himself with a functioning smartphone.
So, yes, parents need to be able to see the contents of messages. Some kids you can trust, some kids you can't, but you've got to know which one you've got.
How is age verified? (Score:2)
I am hoping this doesn't involve or morph into a digital ID requirement.
age (Score:2)
they have built new artificial intelligence systems to detect teens who lie about their age
My daughter (she doesn't care about Instagram, consider it boring, for old people) it is 11 but she looks 14, good luck to the AI guessing her age. Also, she doesn't post selfies, but cat pictures and drawings. Good luck again.
Regulate antisocial media... (Score:3)
Kiddies shouldn't be going anywhere near the kinds of toxic, exploitative, predatory, & illegal stuff we typically find, in abundance, on antisocial media.
And suddenly all new users average 5 years older. (Score:2)
This has been done before... (Score:2)
Almost twenty years ago Second Life had an entirely walled off instance for kids that was kids-only.