Instagram Details Several Updates, Tests Aimed at Boosting Teen Safety on Its Platform

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri prepared some early talking points for his scheduled testimony before Congress this week on the platform’s teen safety issues, detailing several updates on that front in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Mosseri wrote in a blog post, “We’ll be taking a stricter approach to what we recommend to teens on the app, we’ll stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, we’ll be nudging teens towards different topics if they’ve been dwelling on one topic for a long time and we’re launching the Take a Break feature in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, which we previously announced.” He continued, “We’ll also be launching our first tools for parents and guardians early next year to help them get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram. Parents and guardians will be able to see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits. And we’ll have a new educational hub for parents and guardians.” The tools for parents and guardians will begin rolling out in March and, in addition to the controls mentioned above, teens will have the option to notify their parents if they report someone on the platform, so the teens and parents can discuss what happened. The educational hub for parents and guardians will include resources such as product tutorials and tips from experts so they can be better prepared to discuss social media use with teens. The Take a Break feature, which Instagram began testing last month, enables people to make informed decisions about how much time they are spending on the platform, and people will see reminders from Instagram after a preset amount of time, as well as expert tips to help them reflect and reset. Users in the countries where the feature is rolling out will begin seeing notifications to remind them of its availability, and Mosseri said Take a Break should be available globally by early 2022. Instagram also began testing the ability for people to bulk delete content they have posted to the platform, including photos and videos, as well as likes and comments. The company plans to roll this out in January. Mosseri explained, “While available to everyone, I think this tool is particularly important for teens to more fully understand what information they've shared on Instagram and what is visible to others, and to have an easier way to manage their digital footprint.” Instagram will expand on its move in July to make private accounts the default for new teen users, saying that it is testing changes where people will no longer be able to tag or mention teens who don’t follow them, nor will they be able to include content from teens in Reels Remixes or Guides. The platform is also looking into a tweak to the Sensitive Content Control it debuted in July, where the Limit Even More option would be expended beyond its Explore tab to surfaces on the platform including hashtags, Reels, search and suggested accounts. Finally, saying that Instagram’s research has found that nudging people who have been dwelling on one topic for a long time to other topics, Mosseri said Instagram is building a new experience to do this. He wrote, “Every day, I see the positive impact that Instagram has for young people everywhere. I’m proud that our platform is a place where teens can spend time with the people they care about, explore their interests and explore who they are. I want to make sure that it stays that way, which means above all keeping them safe on Instagram. We’ll continue doing research, consulting with experts and testing new concepts to better serve teens.”

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Instagram Details Several Updates, Tests Aimed at Boosting Teen Safety on Its Platform

Adam Mosseri is set to testify before Congress this week

David Cohen

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David Cohen