Enrollment announces new feature to protect teenage users

Adolescents represent one of the most common segments of the population in social networks. A good example is TikTok and Instagram, two platforms with a strong presence of minors among their users.

Both social networks have various measures to make it easier for adolescents to use their services safely. For example, TikTok blocks all communication with users under 16, even if the accounts follow one another. This initiative is now joined by Instagram, which has taken a series of steps to make it even more difficult for adults to communicate with those under 18 years.

Instagram has added a new measure relating to messages aimed at people under the age of 18.

Limits for communicating with teenage users on Instagram

Aware of the large number of underage users on its platform, Instagram has developed a new package of measures to protect this sector of its community. This is not the first decision he takes in this regard, since he block already accounts of children under 13.

The main change brought about by the new measures is the blocking direct messages between an adult and a teenager. From now on, an adult user will only be able to communicate with a minor user if the latter follows him. In this way, Instagram protects the teens and manages to provide them with a somewhat safer space.

Plus, as Instagram announced on his website, the platform will advise teens to be more careful when conversing with older people via private messages. To do this, Instagram post safety notices to minors when an adult who contacts them has displayed a suspicious attitude.

As specified by the social network itself, it will send alerts if an adult user has sent many friend requests or messages to children under the age of 18. So teens can immediately end the conversation, block and even report adult behavior online.

Another measure Instagram is already working on is to make it harder for adults with potentially suspicious attitudes to find teenage users on the platform. Those in charge of the service are already exploring the possibility of block the appearance of minors in the "suggested users", in the reels and in the "Explore" tab, in addition to hide their comments in public posts. We stress that these would be measures that would only be applied to adult suspicious users.

Instagram wants to be a safer place for teens.

In Instagram's package of measures to protect teens, there is also the introduction of a new step when creating an account that will make teens set it up as private. Additionally, Instagram is developing new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to detect more easily accounts under the age of 13 that he must block.

Finally, the protection of adolescents involves supporting parents and minors with new resources to properly manage their presence in the social network. In collaboration with The Child Mind Institute and ConnectSafely, Instagram created a guide for parents which includes the latest security and privacy tools, as well as recommendations for taking care of their children without radically prohibiting them from using the social network.

In short, Instagram has put in place several measures to protect teens who use the social network to share their experiences and communicate with other people. Hope they achieve their goal and help develop a safer social space for children under 18.