Social media platform Instagram is changing the way it works for young people and adding controls for parents.
The changes are being rolled out in other countries but Netsafe believes New Zealand won’t be far behind.
Ever since the first social media sites launched there’s been concern over how young people use them.
Now, Instagram’s introducing teen accounts, with automatic protections for young people under 16.
The platform’s chief executive said there’s restrictions on who can message teens.
“There’s content restrictions so that they see less inappropriate content. And even a reminder to leave Instagram once you hit an hour for the day,” Adam Mosseri said.
Teen accounts will be private by default and will need parental permission to make them public or to alter any other built-in protections.
And while parents can’t read the content of their child’s messages they’ll be able to see who they’re messaging.
Changes a step in the right direction
New Zealand’s internet safety watchdog Netsafe thinks it’s “definitely a step in the right direction”.
“I think anything that online platforms can do to improve security outcomes can improve the features of their platforms for young people [and] is definitely welcomed,” Netsafe’s chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said.
It’s first being introduced in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK but he expects to see the changes roll out in New Zealand too.
“The way these platforms do, often they pick a territory or a few countries and roll it out. I’m pretty sure it will find its way to New Zealand at some point. Hopefully that’s soon because I think it’s good to have these measures built in, it’s good to start these conversations ahead of when these things are coming between parents and young people so that they are prepared,” Lyons said.
In a talk last week Meta’s president of global affairs Sir Nick Clegg acknowledged tools like these need parental buy-in.
“One of the things we do find, I’ll be very open about this, is that even when we build these controls parents don’t use them,” Clegg said.
But Lyons said the obligation can’t all be on the parents.
“So merely having these features there and switched on isn’t enough. We can’t put all responsibility on young people and their parents, we also need to keep the pressure on the platforms too,” he said.
