Instagram, in a bid to make its app safer for young people, will default teen accounts to private and restrict ad targeting.
As part of the updates, people under 16 years old will have their accounts default to private accounts, making it harder for potentially suspicious accounts to find them. Private accounts allow users to control who sees and responds to their content.
Instagram has also developed new technology which stops potentially suspicious behaviour, for example accounts who have been blocked or reported by a young person, from interacting with young people’s accounts.
The changes will roll out across Australia, the US, the UK, France and Japan.
“We want young people to enjoy using Instagram while making sure we have robust privacy and safety features in place to protect them. That’s why we’re launching these new updates for our global community today, and we’ll continue developing tools that protect teens and our entire community,” says Facebook Australia head of policy Josh Machin.
“Privacy is one of our top priorities, and we’ll continue listening to young people, their parents, lawmakers and industry experts to build tools and experiences that safeguard everyone on our platforms.”
Instagram is also limiting the options advertisers have to reach young people with ads.
In the coming weeks, advertisers will only be allowed to target ads to people under 18, or older in certain countries, based on their age, gender and location.
Previously available targeting options, such as those based on interests or on their activity on other apps and websites, will no longer be available to advertisers.
The restrictions to ad targeting will be global and apply to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
Once users turn 18, Instagram will notify them about targeting options that advertisers can use to reach them and the tools we provide to them to control their ad experience.
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