Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta is set to implement new content restrictions for teenagers on its platforms. The move is part of Meta’s efforts to enhance the safety and age-appropriateness of its social networks for young users. These content limitations aim to prevent teenagers from accessing sensitive material such as suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders.
Instead of viewing such content, teenage users will be redirected to supportive resources provided by organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness. While Meta already avoids recommending sensitive content to teenagers in sections like Reels and Explore, the new changes will ensure that such material is also hidden from their Feeds and Stories.
The company clarified that it permits individuals to share content addressing their own struggles with suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. However, their policy is to make it harder for users to find such content. Meta has already started implementing these content restrictions for teenagers and plans to have them fully in place on both Facebook and Instagram in the coming months.
Furthermore, Meta will automatically place teenagers into the most restrictive content control settings on both platforms. This is in response to mounting pressure from regulators and lawmakers in the United States and Europe, who have raised concerns about the addictive nature of social media sites and their impact on the mental health of younger users.
In a recent lawsuit, Meta was accused of profoundly affecting the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans through technologies that promote engagement. The company was also accused of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal data from its youngest users without parental consent. Meta has denied these claims, emphasizing its ongoing efforts to ensure the online safety of teenagers with the help of over 30 dedicated tools and resources for teenagers and their parents.
Former Meta employee Arturo Bejar, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, stated that the company was aware of the potential harm its products could cause to young users but failed to take sufficient action to address the problem. Despite this, Meta has affirmed its commitment to providing safe, age-appropriate experiences for teenagers across its platforms.
Vicki Shotbolt, CEO of ParentZone.org, praised Meta’s new policies, stating that parents want assurance that their teenagers are accessing age-appropriate online content. Alongside Meta’s parental supervision tools, these content restrictions will offer parents greater peace of mind regarding their children’s online experiences.
As Meta implements these changes to enhance the safety and age-appropriateness of its platforms, it seeks to ensure a positive and secure online environment for teenagers worldwide.
