Privacy and safety are constant concerns when it comes to online spaces—particularly for teens—and Meta is experimenting with more ways it can improve both on its social media platforms. From new defaults and notifications to future additions that will make it more difficult for adults with questionable motives to interact with teens at all. The most immediate change is to new Facebook accounts, which now turn on more privacy settings by default for any profiles made for anyone younger than 16 (18 in some countries). Any new Facebook accounts for teens will now automatically limit who can view friends lists, see the people and pages they follow, see posts they’re tagged in, or comment on public posts. These tools and settings can, of course, also be turned on manually for existing accounts regardless of age. Additionally, notifications for teen users are being adjusted to encourage the use of Facebook and Instagram’s reporting tools. One example given is a new prompt that will encourage them to report an account after they’ve blocked it—along with information on how they can handle potentially predatory messages. The company also says other protections for teens from what it considers “suspicious adults” are currently being tested. These would prevent flagged adults from appearing in their Facebook friend recommendations, as well as remove the message button entirely when such adults view their Instagram profile. Facebook’s new privacy setting defaults are rolling out today for all new accounts made by teens, along with updated notifications for teenage users. Its other teen privacy features are still in the testing phase and don’t currently have an estimated release date.
