Meta-owned companies Facebook and Instagram are implementing new privacy features aimed at protecting teenagers to come in contact with strangers and predators.
Facebook (2.9 billion users) and Instagram (2.5 billion users) are two of the most popular social media sites in the world, with a combined active user base of more than 5.4 billion. Nearly half of those users are young people under 25, and given that adolescents as old as 13 can access the platforms, Meta must take steps to protect these users from strangers and predators.
Some steps taken by the company are restrictions on adults’ ability to message teens with whom they are not connected or to view teens in their People You May Know suggestions. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg and the company is doing much more to protect these teenagers.
The new privacy initiatives involve features like who can see your friends list, who can see posts you’re tagged in on your profile, review posts you’ve tagged in before the post appears on your profile timeline, who can see the people, pages, and lists you follow, who is allowed to comment on your public posts
However, the features mentioned need to be turned on by the users. Users at the age of 16 who go on to make an account are presented with the features by default.
There have been more reports of sextortion on social media sites. Sharing intimate private images and videos with partners and even total strangers they meet online has become a foolish habit among young folks. And when a relationship ends badly, the latter may share such content on social media sites to harm their name or use it as a form of blackmail or sextortion.
Meta is also making tools to curb sextortion on Instagram and Facebook and also coordinating with NGOs to develop instructional materials to help older users better grasp the repercussions of publishing private content on social media platforms.
