Instagram is introducing some new tools in an effort to
ensure better safety for its young user community. The company has published a
new Parents Guide after collaborating with The Child Mind Institute and
ConnectSafely in the US. The guide includes latest safety tools, privacy
settings, and conversation starters to navigate discussions between parents and
teens.
Another step that Instagram has taken is to understand its
users’ real age, as a lot of times young people lie about their date of birth
when signing up for an account. To prevent this from happening, the company is developing
new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to help keep teens
safer.
With one of its new age-safety related features, Instagram is attempting to protect teens from unwanted contact from adults by preventing adults from sending messages to people under 18 who don’t follow them. When an adult tries to message a teen who doesn’t follow them, they will get a notification saying that DM’ing them isn’t an option.
In addition to that, Instagram is also making use of prompts
to help teens be careful about their interactions with adults on the platform. For
instance, when an adult who has been exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior
is interacting with a teen in their DMs, the teen will be notified through safety
alerts in DMs about it. They will then be given options to end the
conversation, block, report, or restrict the adult.
Lastly, the social company is encouraging teens to make
their account private through a newly added step in the sign-up process where
users choose to keep their account public or private. These settings will now
come with information that encourages young people to opt for a private account.
