Meta (META.O) said on Tuesday that it is expanding its content settings for teen accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger globally to ensure age-appropriate experiences for younger users, as social media platforms face increasing scrutiny over child safety and mental health.
The initiative, which was first introduced in select countries last October, was designed to limit children’s exposure to inappropriate content and improve online protections for teens.
Meta also announced a new Instagram feature aimed at broadening the variety of content shown to teenage users, while reducing repetitive exposure to certain themes.
Meta said it will work with a safety company, ALIS, to develop and test features related to underage users.
Under the new changes, underage users will no longer be able to view or follow accounts that frequently share inappropriate content.
According to Meta, such accounts will also be blocked from appearing in recommendations or search results for users under 18.
The company had introduced this new setting on Instagram in October.
Parents will be able to use this setting to restrict users’ access to comments on the platform, including preventing them from viewing comments on their own posts.
