Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has announced the first parental controls for its Instagram social media app, following sustained pressure to protect its younger users.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said in a blog post that parents will be able to view their children’s usage and limit the time they spend on the app to prevent teenagers from overusing the product.
Adolescents will also be able to inform their parents if they have reported another user for violating Instagram’s policies in a bid to shield young users from receiving harmful content.
Users will not be able to tag or mention teenagers who do not follow them, while users will be able to delete posts, comments, and likes in large quantities from the new year.
“This is the first version of these tools [but] we’ll continue to add more options over time,” Mosseri said.
The app also intends to develop a stricter process for teenagers to prove their age but is yet to add these features, he said.
Mosseri will answer questions surrounding the harms of social media to children and teenagers to the Senate committee today.
This comes as major technology platforms try to adhere to new child safety guidelines in the UK.
Frances Haugen, a former product manager at what was Facebook, ramped up the pressure by leaking documents that unveiled the company was aware that Instagram makes teenage girls feel worse about themselves.
"What's super tragic is Facebook's own research says as these young women begin to consume this eating-disorder content they get more and more depressed, and it actually makes them use the app more," Haugen said on the 60 Minutes news program in October.
“Meta is attempting to shift attention from their mistakes by rolling out parental guides, use timers and content control features that consumers should have had all along,” said Republican senator Marsha Blackburn to The New York Times.
Blackburn added that she and her colleagues “see right through what they are doing”.