Meta or formerly the Facebook company, introduced their newest privacy setting on Facebook and Instagram made especially for the protection of teens from online harm.
One of the main information about Meta’s privacy setting is that anyone under the legal age (16 or 18, depending from which country) who creates a new account will automatically join Facebook with a more private default setting as of right now. Meanwhile, for those who already have a Facebook or Instagram account, a pop-up window will appear advising them to enable Meta’s new privacy settings.
Facebook is also creating new tools to stop inappropriate images produced by AI from spreading online. It will also begin educating programs to stop child exploitation.
According to Meta, these features aim to safeguard children and provide a safe, age-appropriate teen experiences on Facebook and Instagram today. Could this make a big impact on children and teenagers’ social media protection? Let’s learn more about these privacy settings.
Privacy settings you can modify
Beginning on November 21, 2022, Facebook users below legal age will be notified and encouraged to choose the following modifiable settings:
- Who has access to their friend list
- Accounts who have access to the lists, profiles, and pages they follow
- Who can see their posts they are tagged in
- Reviewing posts that tag them before it appears on their timeline
- Who is can comment on their public posts
These settings are still being tested to be integrated on Instagram accounts as of today.
Preventing possible harmful interactions
One of Facebook’s move last year was restricting adults from messaging teens they are not connected to, or accounts that are not their friend. In addition, accounts of teenagers are also prevented from showing up on adults’ “People You May Know” recommendations.
This time, Meta is trying to do the vice versa as well. They are testing ways to prevent teens from messaging suspicious adults they are not connected to, and also not showing adult account recommendations on teenagers’ “People You May Know”.
An adult account that has recently been blocked or reported already, for instance, qualifies as a “suspicious” account.
Also, the company decided on experimenting with completely removing the message button from teen Instagram profiles when they are viewed by suspicious adults as an additional degree of security.
Promoting the use of safety tools for teens
Meta has already developed several safety tools so teenagers can report whenever they feel uncomfortable during their use of Facebook and Instagram, and this time, Meta encourages teens more to use those tools by introducing new notifications that promotes the options of safety tools. They also made those tools easier to find.
For example, teens are free to tap on “Restrict”, “Report”, and “Block” whenever they feel uncomfortable with an account without the other person knowing their actions.
They are also being urged to report accounts after blocking someone, and safety notifications with instructions on how to deal with inappropriate adult messages are also being sent to them.
Ways to stop the spread of inappropriate images of children/teens
Some of the major problems on social media platforms is the spread of intimate images, and when inappropriate images are used to exploit teens/children, this is also known as online “sextortion”. The Meta company looked seriously into this issue, and so they wanted to do everything to prevent teens from sharing personal pictures on Facebook and Instagram in the first place because non-consensual sharing of such images could be incredibly traumatizing.
This is the reason for Meta’s collaboration with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in order to provide a global platform for teenagers who are concerned that private pictures they produced might be made available to the public online without their permission.
Additionally, the company also partnered with Thorn and its NoFiltr brand to develop teaching tools that lessen the stigma and embarrassment from intimate images, and inspire teenagers who have shared them or are experiencing sextortion to get assistance and take back their control. The company stated that they will be releasing more updates on this in the next weeks.
A step on making social media a safer place
It is no doubt that these safety actions made by Meta will definitely increase the internet safety of the youth. Let us support them as the company continues to strive for improving online privacy within and beyond their applications.
You can visit Meta’s education and awareness resources, such as the Stop Sextortion section on the Facebook Safety Center, built with Thorn, if you’re looking for support or information about sextortion.
Always remember that awareness makes huge impacts, and actively helping & protecting teenagers from social harm creates an ensured safer place for everyone.
