Meta launches new teen safety features, removes 635,000 accounts that sexualize children

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press Instagram parent company Meta has introduced new safety features aimed at protecting teens who use its platforms including information about accounts that message them and an option to block and statement accounts with one tap The company also revealed Wednesday that it has removed thousands of accounts that were leaving sexualized comments or requesting sexual images from adult-run accounts of kids under Of these were commenting and another were linked to accounts that interacted inappropriately Meta announced in a blog post Related Articles New Orleans inmates who broke out of jail plead not guilty to escape charges Hershey raising candy prices by double digits on high cocoa costs Bureaucrats search for a bear that attacked a hiker on a popular trail in Anchorage Alaska Texas lawmakers review catastrophic floods but say they aren t out to assign blame Harvard under inquiry over participation in visa project for foreign students and researchers The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental fitness and well-being of younger users This includes protecting children from predatory adults and scammers who ask then extort them for nude images Meta stated teen users blocked more than a million accounts and communicated another million after seeing a safety notice that reminds people to be cautious in private messages and to block and statement anything that makes them uncomfortable Earlier this year Meta began to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on Instagram which is technically only allowed for those over If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age the account will automatically become a teen account which has more restrictions than an adult account Teen accounts are private by default Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to In the company made teen accounts private by default Meta faces lawsuits from dozens of U S states that accuse it of harming young people and contributing to the youth mental strength dilemma by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms