The company Meta has announced that there will be more content hidden from teenagers on social networks Instagram and Facebook. All because of efforts to protect children from harmful information. From now on, the control settings will become stricter, and the search conditions on Instagram will be more limited, writes Meta in its blog.
One of the innovations is the hiding of content that does not correspond to the age of the user, even if it was shared by someone to whom it is subscribed. The company is already trying not to recommend such data to teenagers in Reels. And when someone posts harmful content (such as eating disorders or self-harm), Meta will share resources with expert organizations that can help, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“We are currently working to roll out these changes for under 18s and will be fully implemented on Instagram and Facebook in the coming months,” Meta said in a statement.
Information search
The company says it allows people to discuss their struggles with suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders, and to share relevant content.. However, Meta is working on making it harder to find such content. So when people search for terms related to these issues, social networks will hide the results and direct the user to experts for help. This algorithm will be implemented in the coming weeks.
Protection of own data
Teens will receive messages in which the company will offer to update their security and privacy settings. If users agree, Meta will automatically change their settings. This will lead to some restrictions, in particular, those who want to repost content, tag or mention users in posts. In addition, a person will only be able to receive messages from their followers. Meta will also hide messages that contain offensive comments.