Facebook introduces more private settings for teens
A toggle will enable teenagers to activate stronger privacy settings with a single tap
Social media giant Meta is rolling out updates on Instagram and Facebook as part of an effort to protect teenagers from online harm.
The platform stated on Monday that all users who are under the age of 16 (or under the age of 18 in some countries) would now have more private settings by default when they sign up for a Facebook account.
The platform will also encourage teens who already have accounts on Facebook to choose these more private settings for:
- who has access to their friend list
- who can see the individuals, Pages, and lists they follow
- Who can view the posts they've been tagged in on their profile
- Reviewing tagged posts before they are shown on their profile
- who is permitted to leave comments on their public posts
Facebook said it will provide a toggle that will activate these private settings, with a single tap.
According to Facebook, it is taking a variety of steps to protect children from predatory adults. The platform is currently exploring a way to prevent teens from texting with suspicious adults who have recently been reported or blocked by a teenager.
Teens will no longer have these "suspicious" persons suggested to them in the 'People You May Know' section, and the platform will begin asking them to report the accounts they have blocked.
Facebook says it is developing new tools that will enable teens to share if something makes them uncomfortable on the platform. Users will soon start receiving notifications encouraging teens to use these new tools.
The latest change to Facebook's privacy settings comes more than a year after Instagram began setting the profiles of new users under the age of 18 to private by default. Instagram is also experimenting with removing the messaging button on teens' accounts when they are seen by suspicious adults.
Meta is collaborating with the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), researchers, experts, parents and victim advocates to create a worldwide platform for teenagers who are concerned about the non-consensual online sharing of personal photographs (sextortion).
The platform's goal is to assist Meta in stopping teenagers' intimate images from being posted online.
The platform will function in a manner similar to that of Meta's existing system, which is meant to restrict the sharing of private photographs by adults. After the platform has been built, it will be available for use by other firms in the tech industry.
Meta is also collaborating with the Thorn and its brand NoFiltr to develop educational resources with the goal of decreasing the shame and stigma associated with intimate photographs. If a teen is subjected to sextortion, the educational material will encourage them to seek assistance and take control of the situation.
'Anyone seeking support and information related to sextortion can visit our education and awareness resources, including the Stop Sextortion hub on the Facebook Safety Center, developed with Thorn,' Facebook said.
'We also have our guide for parents on how to talk to their teens about intimate images on the Education hub of our Family Center.'