Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta announced this week it would begin hiding content it deems inappropriate from teenagers’ accounts on its platforms. The move comes amid growing concern over youth safety on social media.
As part of the new measure, Meta says it will censor posts relating to suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders.
“Take the example of someone posting about their ongoing struggle with thoughts of self-harm. This is an important story, and can help destigmatize these issues, but it’s a complex topic and isn’t necessarily suitable for all young people,” Meta said in a January 9 blog post. “Now, we’ll start to remove this type of content from teens’ experiences on Instagram and Facebook, as well as other types of age-inappropriate content.”
Meta was previously accused of not taking sufficient action to deal with controversial content served to younger users. In November, The Dallas Express reported on the investigation into Instagram’s controversial Reel algorithm. Even when users follow seemingly innocuous accounts aimed at a young audience, Instagram’s algorithm can deliver a significant amount of adult content mixed with inappropriate footage of children.
And the issue stretches beyond protecting teens from sensitive content. Last month, The Dallas Express covered the revelation that Facebook and Instagram promote minors’ accounts in the feeds of apparent child predators. Further, Instagram was identified as seemingly having a thriving pedophile network.
According to Meta, its platforms already aim to avoid recommending inappropriate material to teens. However, with the new initiative, the platforms will not show the content in the teens’ feeds, even when shared by an account they follow.
Josh Golin, executive director of the children’s online advocacy group Fairplay, was not impressed with Meta’s announcement.
“Today’s announcement by Meta is yet another desperate attempt to avoid regulation and an incredible slap in the face to parents who have lost their kids to online harms on Instagram. … If the company is capable of hiding pro-suicide and eating disorder content, why have they waited until 2024 to announce these changes?” he said, per WFAA.
