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Meta Auto-Enacts Stricter Filters on Child Accounts, Upgrades Teen DM Safety

Meta says the move will help curb predator access by default-activating privacy filters on child accounts, surfacing in-message safety prompts for teens, restricting suspicious adult recommendations, piloting AI age checks.

FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, Oct. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Children jumping on playground
Image
Instagram app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021.

Overview

  • Meta automatically applies its strictest message and Hidden Words filters to adult-managed Instagram accounts that primarily feature children under 13.
  • New direct-messaging safeguards for teens display account creation dates, offer safety tips and enable a one-tap block-and-report option.
  • Earlier this year the company removed about 135,000 Instagram accounts for sexualizing minors and 500,000 related profiles on Instagram and Facebook.
  • In June teen users blocked 1 million accounts and reported another 1 million after encountering safety notices in their DMs.
  • The platform is testing AI-driven age verification to transfer underage users into Teen Accounts and limiting recommendations between suspicious adults and child-focused profiles.