Meta is extending its teen safety features to Facebook and Messenger, applying what it calls an “age-appropriate experience” for users under 18.
Under these changes, younger teens will be placed in more restricted settings by default.
Parental approval will now be required for activities like live streaming or disabling image protections in messages, which are designed to filter out potentially harmful content.
The feature was first rolled out on Instagram last September, with Meta claiming it “fundamentally changed the experience for teens” on the platform.
However, campaigners argue that it’s still unclear what real impact the Teen Accounts system has had so far.
“Eight months after Meta rolled out Teen Accounts on Instagram, we’ve had silence from Mark Zuckerberg about whether this has actually been effective and even what sensitive content it actually tackles,” said Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation.
He also called it “appalling” that parents still don’t know whether the settings actually stop their children from being “algorithmically recommended” inappropriate or harmful content.
The CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall, Drew Benvie, described the move as a step in the right direction.
“For once, big social are fighting for the leadership position not for the most highly engaged teen user base, but for the safest,” he said.
He also noted that, like with all platforms, there’s a risk teens could “find a way around safety settings.”
The expanded rollout of Teen Accounts begins Tuesday in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.
Companies offering services popular with children have been under increasing pressure to implement parental controls and safety features to protect young users.
In the UK, they also face legal obligations under the Online Safety Act to shield children from harmful and illegal content on their platforms.
Roblox recently added a feature allowing parents to block specific games or experiences on its widely used platform, expanding its range of parental controls.
Meta says it has transitioned over 54 million teens worldwide into Teen Accounts since their launch in September.
The company also reports that 97% of users aged 13 to 15 have kept the platform’s built-in safety restrictions in place.
