"Who Are You 'Talking' to on Instagram"... Parents Can Peek In

Meta strengthens parental control features and monitoring
Usage time, etc... conversation content cannot be viewed
Calls grow louder to enhance minor safety

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has added parental control features and strengthened monitoring tools for children.

According to foreign media including The Washington Post (WP) on the 27th (local time), Meta added parental control features on its instant messaging app 'Messenger' and other social networking services (SNS) on the same day. This is due to pressure from U.S. federal lawmakers to enhance the safety of minors as exposure of teenagers to inappropriate content has increased across multiple SNS platforms.

Accordingly, parents can check how much time their children have spent on 'Messenger,' which is shared by Facebook and Instagram, and view their children's contact lists. They can see whether their children allow messages from strangers, and a feature has been added to notify parents if their children report someone.

However, the content of the chats cannot be viewed.

On Facebook, a notification recommending to stop usage appears after 20 minutes of use, and Instagram includes a feature suggesting program termination if users scroll through short videos for a long time at night. Additionally, Instagram has restricted chatting with strangers.

Meta added that these features will first be launched in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and will be expanded to other countries within the next few months.

Increase in Lawsuits and Legislation for Youth Protection Against SNS Platforms

[Image source=Pixabay]

Recently in the U.S., lawsuits and legislative movements against SNS platforms have been rising due to insufficient safety and protection measures for teenagers.

In June last year, Meta was sued by teenagers and parents from eight U.S. states including Illinois, Texas, and Florida. The lawsuit claims that these SNS platforms ruined teenagers' lives by using algorithms.

In the complaint, they stated, "Excessive exposure to SNS caused eating disorders and insomnia symptoms, leading to suicide attempts or executions," and alleged that Meta is responsible for program design defects, failure to issue warnings, fraud, and negligence.

In March, Utah passed a bill requiring parental consent before creating accounts on SNS platforms including Instagram and TikTok.

The U.S. Congress is also promoting laws such as the 'Children's Online Safety Act,' which allows rejection of algorithmically recommended content.

Senator Marsha Blackburn criticized through the media, "Big tech companies have exploited children for too long," and said, "Meta should have made efforts to protect children online more safely years ago, but instead focused only on profit generation."

Concerns Raised Over Threats to Youth Mental Health and Sexual Exploitation via SNS

Meanwhile, the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) announced last month that "a mental health crisis is emerging among young people, with SNS identified as a major contributing factor."

PHSCC claimed that teenagers who use SNS for more than three hours a day are twice as likely to experience mental health issues such as depression and anger. They emphasized the need for active efforts from families and governments to suppress these negative functions of SNS.

There have also been findings domestically that SNS serve as channels for crime. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute announced in the '2022 Annual Report of the Support Center for Children and Adolescents Victimized by Sexual Exploitation' that 70% of children and adolescents victimized by sexual exploitation were exposed through chat apps and SNS.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.