Protection from online harm: new privacy update for teens on Instagram, Facebook
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New Delhi: As a measure to curb online harm, Meta, the parent company of social media giants, Instagram and Facebook, rolls out a new privacy update for teenagers.
Starting now, anyone who joins Facebook under the age of 16, or under the age of 18 in some countries, will automatically be placed in more private settings, the company said in its blogpost.
The company is also testing methods to prevent teenagers from messaging suspicious adults they are not connected to, and the platform won't display them in the People You May Know recommendations.
It also created a number of tools for teens to inform the company if something makes them feel uncomfortable while using the applications.
Meta is also developing tools to prevent the online spread of self-generated intimate photographs. "We're working with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to build a global platform for teens who are worried intimate images they created might be shared on public online platforms without their consent," the company said.
Additionally, Meta is working with Thorn and their NoFiltr brand to create educational materials which will help teenagers reduce the shame and stigma surrounding intimate images.
The blog post said that the company through notifications will encourage teenagers to use the tools designed to protect them from online harm.
"We've also made it easier for people to find our reporting tools and, as a result, we saw more than a 70% increase in reports sent to us by minors in Q1 2022 versus the previous quarter on Messenger and Instagram DMs," said the blog post.
-IANS Inputs