As we all head for the holidays, you should expect teens to flock and spend more time online as they connect and engage with friends. In line with this anticipated activity spike, Meta has announced a new set of updates to help protect these younger users from potential exposure to predators and other harmful behaviors in the app.

Safety is Top Priority

First off, Meta will now be implementing stricter privacy controls on Facebook by default. This will apply to all users under the age of 16 who sign up for an account. The more stringent privacy settings will limit who can see their friends list and pages that they follow, while also hiding posts that they’re tagged in, as well as stop non-connections from commenting on their public posts. Basically, additional anti-creep protocols. 

These updated measures will ensure that youngsters have a higher level of privacy, and while they can still revert from these new defaults, establishing them as the norm could go a long way in ensuring higher awareness among younger users of the option’s existence. Meta implemented something similar on Instagram last December, with users under 16 now defaulted into private accounts, meaning that their private information and activities are essentially hidden from non-connections. Likewise, they’re also hidden from Explore and searches.

Facebook’s new process doesn’t go quite as far, as users will still be displayed in the app. However, it’s essentially the same in that it ensures that the only ones who can see a minor’s content or contact them are people who they’ve approved as connections. It’s no fool-proof process by any means, given that kids can still approve questionable connections, but it does go a long way when combined with Meta’s parental control tools, especially in providing much-needed assurance and protection for younger users. 

To add to this, Meta’s also testing a new process that will limit the capacity of kids to make contact with ‘suspicious’ adults in its apps. In the event of such, Meta will now stop said users from being able to message youngsters, while also removing their accounts as suggested connections from a younger user’s ‘People You May Know; recommendations.

Meta’s also adding new notifications that’ll encourage young users to use its various protective tools and features as they use the app. Meta will now also prompt users to switch on privacy features, along with new alerts to report accounts after you’ve blocked them on the app. Meta’s also throwing in new safety notices with information on how to deal with certain ‘inappropriate’ people or situations. 

Lastly, Meta’s working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to expand its program to help teens stop the use of their intimate images. The process enables users to create an image ID for any intimate image, which can then be used to track instances of those pictures across the web. The user doesn’t upload their image to the database but is instead scanned by the system directly on their device, creating a unique hash value that can then be used to scan for other versions of the same. Meta launched an initial version of this to European users last year and is now expanding the system to more regions. 

The Wrap

Protecting younger users is a key area of focus for every social platform, doubly so for the likes of Facebook and Instagram which have already been highly scrutinized for moderation lapses in their respective channels. However, no permanent solutions seem to exist because children grow increasingly more savvy in finding ways to circumvent features and processes that otherwise are in place to ensure their safety; curiosity overtakes caution. So, it would seem that limitation is now bested by education, where improving digital literacy and facilitating open dialogue with your children to let them understand more about the risks of online connection is the better approach. It may not always be possible, but knowing that such tools exist does at least help improve awareness and overall online safety. 

Sources 

http://bit.ly/3XmvmTv