Meta Platforms is rolling out its ‘Teen Accounts’ feature to Facebook and Messenger yesterday, as it faces sustained criticism about not doing enough to protect young users from online harms.

The enhanced privacy and parental controls, which were introduced on Instagram last year, will address concerns about how teens are spending their time on social media, the company said, according to a Reuters report yesterday.

Meta’s expansion of safety features for teens comes as some US lawmakers say they plan to press ahead with proposed legislation, such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), seeking to protect children from social media harms.

Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube already face hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of children and school districts about the addictive nature of social media. In 2023, 33 US states including California and New York sued the company for misleading the public about the dangers of its platforms.

Meta said teens under 16 will require parental permission before they can go live and disable a feature that automatically blurs images potentially containing nudity in direct messages.

“We will start including these updates in the next couple of months,” the company said.

Top platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, allow users who are 13 years of age and above to sign up.

Meanwhile, a statement from Meta on Teen Accounts rollout for FB and Messenger, which was accessed by the Indianbroadcastingworld.com, stated that since September, there were at least 54 million teens globally in ‘Teen Accounts’, with many more to come as it continues to roll out around the world. These teens now have enhanced protections, like automatically being placed into private accounts and the strictest setting of content controls.

They also have notifications turned off overnight and reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes, and they can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.

The company said it designed ‘Teen Accounts’ with parents in mind, and introduced protections that were responsive to their top concerns. Quoting from a recent survey it had commissioned, Meta said overall, nearly all parents surveyed (94 percent) said ‘Teen Accounts’ were helpful, while 85 percent believe ‘Teen Accounts’ make it easier for them to help their teens have positive experiences on Instagram.