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Meta Expands Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger

Elizabeth Greenberg

,

meta teen accounts
Meta is expanding its teen protection measures by offering Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger. 

Meta is expanding its teen accounts feature – which was introduced to Instagram last year – to Facebook and Messenger amidst increased calls for child safety across its platforms.

Teen accounts have built-in protections that limit who can contact teens and the content they see. Under 16s are automatically placed into Teen Accounts, and teens require a parent’s permission to change any settings to make them less strict.

Meta says that since introducing the settings to Instagram last year, 97% of teens aged 13-15 have stayed in these built-in restrictions, which the company believes offers the most age-appropriate experience for younger teens.

Since September, there are at least 54 million teens globally in Teen Accounts, Meta says.

The social media giant is expanding their teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger which will offer similar, automatic protections to limit inappropriate content and unwanted contact which is currently available on Instagram teen accounts.

The rollout will begin with teens in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, though it will be rolled out to other countries soon.

Meta will also be expanding the protections of its current Teen Account measures on Instagram. This includes preventing users under 16 from going Live on their Instagram account unless a parent gives them permission to do so.


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Teens under 16 will also need parental permission to turn off features that blur images containing suspected nudity in direct messages. These updates are expected to come in the next couple of months.

Most of the restrictions will include those already available on Instagram, including restricting teen accounts to only receive messages from users they’ve messaged before or who they follow, and to only allow teen’s friends to view or reply to their stories. Tags, comments, and mentions will also be limited to those already connected to a teen’s account.

Further, teen accounts will have a reminder to leave the social media app after an hour, and a quiet mode will automatically be selected for overnight.

Elizabeth Greenberg

Staff Writer

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