Meta updates safety features for teens. More than 600,000 accounts linked to predatory behavior
CNBC3 days
Meta Adds New Safety Features for Teen Instagram Accounts
Above: The Instagram logo, taken on July 20, 2025. Image copyright: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Meta empowers teens with digital autonomy while providing essential safety tools. Their approach combines education on bullying, privacy, and sextortion with proactive features like nudity protection and location notices. The results prove effective: teens used safety features over two million times in June alone, showing that respecting youth agency alongside robust protections works.
Establishment-critical narrative
Meta's Teen Account protections fail despite safety promises. Independent testing found 100% of test accounts received algorithmically-recommended sensitive and sexual content, with most exposed to harmful body image material. Meta's broader retreat from safety prioritizes engagement over teen protection, creating chaotic digital spaces where harm thrives unchecked.