Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
- Author, Liv McMahon & Tom Gerken
- Role, Technology reporters
Instagram dey change di way e dey work for teenagers as dem promise more protections for young pipo and more control for parents.
Di new “teen accounts” be for pikin dem from 13 to 15 go force plenti privacy settings to dey on automatically instead of say di pikin go join by demselves.
Teenagers posts sef go dey private wey mean say dem go need to accept followers and pipo wey no dey follow dem no go see dia content.
Di settings go only change if parent or guardian get oversight of di account or wen di pikin reach 16 years.
Social media platforms don dey get push to make dia platforms safer as pipo dey worry say dem no dey do enof to hide young pipo to see harmful content.
Di NSPCC call di announcement “step in right direction” but still call out Meta say e be like “den dey make di emphasis dey di pikin dem and di parents to keep dem safe.”
Di NSPCC online child safety policy manager, Rani Govender tok say Meta and oda social media companies suppose dey do more by demselves.
She say, “dem must to back am up wit proactive measures wey go make am say harmful content and sexual abuse no dey for Instagram first of all, so all pikin fit benefit from di comprehensive protections from di services wey dem dey use.”
Meta call di changes “new experience for teens wey go dey guided by parents”, and tok say dem go “beta support parents, and give dem peace of mind say dia teens dey safe wit di right protections for ground.”
But media regulators, Ofcom bin don bring out worry for April on weda parents go wan chook hand to protect dia pikin online.
For one tok-tok last week, senior Meta oga Sir Nick Clegg say “one of di tins we dem see na say even wen we introduce dis controls, parents no dey use dem.”
Ian Russell, wey im daughter Molly watch self harm and suicide content for Instagram bifor she take her life at di age of 14 tell di BBC say e dey important to wait see how di new policy go dey implemented.
E say, “weda e go work or e no go work, we go only know wen di measures start to work.”
“Meta dey very good wit doing PR and bring big announcements but wetin dem suppose dey good at na to dey transparent and share how well dia measure dey work.”
How e go work?
Teen accounts go change how Instagram dey work for users wey dey between 13 and 15 years. Dis na to on some settings from get go.
Dis settings include strict control for sensitive content to prevent recommendations for material wey fit dey harmful nad also go mute notifications for night.
Accounts go also dey set for private instead of public. Dis mean say teenagers gatz accept new followers and pipo wey no dey follow dem no go fit see dia content.
Wia dis foto come from, Instagram
Parents wey decide say dem wan supervise dia pikin account go see who dia pikin dey message and di topics dem tok say dem dey interested, even though dem no go see wetin di message tok.
Instagram say dem go start to move millions of existing teen users to di new experience within 60 days afta dem tell dem of di changes.
How dem go take know if di age na true?
Di system go mostly rely on say pipo dey honest for dia age even though Instagram alreadi get tools wey go ask to verify di age if dem tink say di pesin no tok true.
From January, dem go also start to dey use AI for US to try find teenagers wey dey use adult accounts to make am teen account.
Di UK Online Safety Act wey dem pass earlier dis year, tell social media platforms to keep pikin dem safe or dem go face ogbonge fines.
Ofcom warn some social media say dem go name and shame social media sites for May if dem no gree comply wit di new online safety rules.
Social media industry analyst Matt Navarra call di changes significant but say e dey based on enforcement.
E tell di BBC say, “as we don see wit teenagers throughout history for dis kain times dey go find dia way around di blocks if dem fit. So I tink Instagram go need make sure say more tech-savvy teens no fit easily dodge dia safeguards.”
Instagram no be di first platform at all wey go bring dis tools for parents. And dem already tok say dem get pass 50 tools to protect pikin.
For 2022, dem introduce family centre and supervision tools for parents, wey go allow dem to see who dia pikin dey follow and who dey follow dem among odas.
Snapchat also get im own family centre wey dey allow parents above di age of 25 to see who dia pikin dey message and restrict dia ability to see some kain content.
For early September, YouTube say dem go limit recommendations for some kain health and fitness videos for teenagers like di ones wey dey idealise some kain bodi types.
Instagram alreadi dey use age verification technology to check teens wey dey try change dia age to ova 18 wit video selfie.
Dis come bring question of why even wit all dis protections for Instagram, young pipo still dey face harmful content.
One Ofcom study wey dem do dis year find out say everi pikin wey dem folow tok don see violent material online. Di most frequent platforms wey di pikin claim say dem see am na for Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat.
As dem dey among di biggest, e mean say di problem neva dey solved.
Under di Online Safety Act, platforms go need show say dem dey committed to comot illegal content wey include child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or content wey dey promote suicide or self-harm.
But di riles no dey expected to fully start till 2025.
For Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently announce say e wan ban social media for pikin by say e bring new age limits for pikin dem to use di platforms.
Instagram latest tools dey put control for di parents hands gan-gan. Dis go give dem more direct responsibility to decide weda dem want dia pikin to get more freedom for Instagram and supervise wetin dem dey do for dia and who dem dey follow tok.
Dem go sha need to get dia Instagram account first sha.
But las-las parents no dey control Instagram and no fit control di algorithm wey dey push content give dia pikin or wetin dia billions of users dey share worldwide.
Sabi pesin for social media Paolo Pescatore say na “important step to safeguard di reach of pikin to di world of social media and fake news.”
E tok say, “di smartphone don open world of disinformation, inappropriate content wey dey ginger change of behaviour among pikin dem.
“More still dey need to be done to improve di pikin digital wellbeing and e dey give control back to di parents.”