“Teenage Accounts,” Parental Permission, More Restrictions… What Instagram’s Update to Protect Minors Is About ?

De grands changements sont à prévoir pour la plateforme. PHOTOTHEK – Thomas Trutschel

Big changes should soon see the light of day on the Instagram platform concerning the protection of minors.

Meta announced on Tuesday, September 19, the creation of “Teenage Accounts”, intended to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with Instagram, an application accused by many associations and authorities of harming the mental health of young people. “This is an important update, designed to give parents peace of mind”, summarizes for AFP Antigone Davis, vice-president of the Californian group responsible for security issues.

In practice, users aged 13 to 17 will now have private accounts by default, with safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see. Teenagers under 16 who want a public profile and fewer restrictions, because they want to become influencers, for example, will need their parents' permission. This is true whether they are already registered or new to the platform.

“This is a fundamental change to make sure we really do things right”, the manager emphasizes. Adults will be able to supervise their children's activities on the social network and act accordingly, including blocking the application. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger is also tightening its rules on age.

“We know that teenagers can lie about their age, particularly to try to get around these protections”, notes Antigone Davis. Now, if a teenager tries to change their date of birth, “we're going to ask them to prove their age”.

Age

The pressure has been mounting for a year against the world's second largest digital advertising company and its competitors. Last October, some 40 US states filed a lawsuit against Meta's platforms, accusing them of harming the “mental and physical health of young people”, because of the risks of addiction, cyberbullying or eating disorders.

From Washington to Canberra, elected officials are working on bills to better protect children online. Australia should soon set the minimum age for using social networks between 14 and 16. Meta currently refuses to check the age of all its users, in the name of respect for privacy.

“If we detect that someone has certainly lied about their age, we intervene”, indicates Antigone Davis, “but we do not want to force 3 billion people to provide an ID”. According to the manager, it would be simpler and more effective if age control took place at the level of the mobile operating system of smartphones, i.e. Android or iOS.

“They have significant information about the age of users”, she argues, and could therefore “share it with all the applications used by teenagers”.

Victims

"It's hard to know to what extent Instagram's announcement will satisfy the authorities", reacted Casey Newton, author of the specialized newsletter Platformer. The concern has reached such proportions that the chief medical officer of the United States recently called for social networks to be required to display information on the dangers faced by minors, like the prevention messages on cigarette packages.

“Instagram is addictive. The app leads children into vicious circles, showing them not what they want to see, but what they can't look away from,” believes Matthew Bergman. In 2021, the lawyer founded an organization to defend “victims of social media” in court. In particular, it represents 200 parents whose child committed suicide “after being encouraged to do so by videos recommended by Instagram or TikTok”.

Matthew Bergman also cites the many cases where young girls have developed serious eating disorders. Meta already prevents the promotion of extreme diets on its platforms, among other measures taken in recent years. “These are small steps in the right direction, but there is so much more to do”, the lawyer judges.

According to him, it would be enough for groups to make their platforms less addictive “and therefore a little less profitable” without losing their qualities for users, to communicate or explore interests. Testifying before Congress at the end of January, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg presented a rare apology to the parents of the victims, saying he was “sorry for everything you've been through”.