Photo/Illutration Teens need parental consent to change the safety settings on their Instagram accounts. (Provided by Facebook Japan)

Meta has begun rolling out “teen restrictions” on the photo sharing platform Instagram in Japan, restricting what content young people can view and who they can interact with online.

Starting on Jan. 21, users aged 13 to 17 will be automatically placed into Teen Accounts, which limit access to content involving sex, violence or other material that is deemed inappropriate.

Teen Accounts feature strict messaging settings, blocking messages from people the teens do not follow or have connections to.

To prevent excessive use, teens will receive notifications once they have spent 60 minutes on the platform.

Moreover, users under 16 will automatically have private accounts, which will only be visible to accepted followers.

Teens will need parental consent to change these settings.

While Meta is taking steps to verify users’ ages, the company acknowledges that some teens may create accounts using fake adult birthdays.

To address this, Meta is testing age verification methods that involve users submitting selfie videos.

Following the initial launch in September in countries including the United States and Britain, these features will be rolled out in Japan in phases over the coming months.

The introduction of these features comes amid growing concerns about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health.

Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for social media platforms to include warning labels, similar to those found on cigarette packages.

The Australian parliament has recently passed legislation banning children under 16 from using social media.

Related News