News Summary

Meta is enhancing its safety measures for teenagers on Instagram by restricting livestreaming capabilities for users under the age of 16 unless they have parental permission. This initiative is part of a broader effort to extend similar safeguards to Facebook and Messenger. Under the new rules, Instagram users who are under 16 must have parental approval to alter settings that blur images with suspected nudity in direct messages. Teen accounts, first introduced last year, automatically placed users under 18 into a setting that allows parents to manage daily app usage and block certain interactions. Now, these features will also be available on Facebook and Messenger, starting in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Meta’s teen account program aims to provide parents with more oversight over their children’s online activities. This move comes amid increasing scrutiny over social media’s impact on young users, and it aligns with the UK’s new Online Safety Act that mandates tech platforms to protect children from harmful content.