Meta updates a new set of enhancements to help safeguard young users from potential exposure to predators and other hazardous behaviours on the app. First off, when a person under the age of 16 signs up for a Facebook account, Meta will automatically install stricter privacy settings. The app’s most restrictive privacy settings will restrict who can view their friends’ list and the Pages they follow, conceal posts they are tagged in, and prevent people who are not connected from leaving comments on their public posts.
The precautions will guarantee that kids have more privacy in the app. While they can still change the default settings, making this the standard may help to ensure that younger users are at least aware of them.
Users under the age of 16 are now automatically defaulted into private accounts on Instagram, which means that non-connections cannot view or comment on their posts or Stories and that they are also not displayed in Explore or searches. Meta implemented a similar change on Instagram in July of last year.
User profiles will still be visible in the app, so Facebook’s new procedure doesn’t go quite as far. It is, however, fundamentally the same in that it makes sure that only those connections that the user has permitted may see their content or get in touch with them.
Kids still approve dubious connections, so it’s not a foolproof system. However, when used in conjunction with Meta’s parental control capabilities, the features significantly help to offer young users the assurance and security they so much need.
Additionally, Meta is trialling a new procedure that will restrict children’s ability to interact with “suspect” adults in its apps.
