Meta has introduced a range of new safety measures designed to offer young users more protection from online harm and predatory behavior.
The accounts of all Facebook users under the age of 16 will automatically be subject to more stringent privacy controls, with limits on who can view their friends list and any Pages they have liked. Posts they have been tagged in will also be hidden from non-friend users and commenting on public posts will be limited to connections only.
Similar measures were rolled out on Instagram last July. Facebook’s new security features aren’t quite as strict as Instagram, but Meta hopes they will still work to effectively safeguard youngsters using the platform.
While the safety measures can be turned off, Meta hopes that they will be used in conjunction with parental control tools to help protect children and young users.
Meta is also currently testing a feature that will prohibit young users from connecting with adult users that have been flagged and suspicious. These users will not be able to message young people and will be removed from suggestion lists such as ‘People You May Know’.
Meta outlined an example of a suspicious user: “an adult that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young person”.
