Meta is expanding its safety features for teens on Facebook and Messenger, introducing a “Teen Accounts” feature to enhance privacy and parental controls.
The new features, which were first launched on Instagram last year, aim to address ongoing concerns about how teenagers interact with social media platforms. The move comes amid increasing pressure from lawmakers, who are pushing for stricter legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to better protect children from the potential harms of social media.
The company’s update is also a response to ongoing legal challenges. Meta, along with TikTok and YouTube, is facing numerous lawsuits from children, school districts, and several U.S. states, accusing them of not doing enough to curb the addictive nature of their platforms. In 2023, 33 states, including California and New York, filed lawsuits claiming that these companies misled the public about the dangers associated with their platforms.
Under the new privacy measures, teens under 16 will need parental consent to go live on the platform and will not be able to disable a feature that automatically blurs images containing potential nudity in direct messages. These changes will roll out in the coming months.
Legislative action is also moving forward. In July 2024, the U.S. Senate advanced two bills—KOSA and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act—aimed at holding social media companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on children and teens. While the Republican-led House did not bring KOSA up for a vote last year, there are indications that lawmakers intend to continue pursuing new laws to protect kids online.
Social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, currently allow users aged 13 and older to sign up.
