Meta expands ‘teen accounts’ safety to Facebook, Messenger

Meta has officially announced the launch of “teen accounts” with additional protections globally for Facebook and Messenger users worldwide on Thursday.

The prime motive is to limit exposure to inappropriate content and encourage healthy screen time.

Meanwhile, Meta’s teen accounts, which were first introduced on Instagram last year, include additional security settings, content restrictions and parental controls for users aged 13 to 17.

The US tech giant said in a blog post, “We’ve placed hundreds of millions of teens in Teen Accounts across Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and now we’re expanding them to teens around the world on Facebook and Messenger.”

The company has announced that in April, they had expanded them across Facebook and the social network’s Messenger private chat service in the US, Australia, Canada and Britain.

The restrictions on Meta’s teen accounts have been particularly designed to address parents’ security concerns: to limit who their teens are communicating with online, the content they are consuming, and to ensure their time is well spent.

Meanwhile the screen limits cannot be removed without parental consent for users aged under 16.

Recent years have seen increasing public and regulatory concern regarding teen use of social media, including fears that young people are spending too much time on screens and there is a lack of moderation on several platforms.