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Minor users require their parents’ permission
San Francisco – Agence France Press
Published on: January 26, 2024: 11:55 AM GST. Last updated: January 26, 2024: 2:32 pm GST
The group “Meta”, which is accused in the US and Europe of harming the mental health of teenagers, announced on Thursday new measures to protect young users of its social networks, in particular the very popular application “Instagram”.
The California-based group said in a statement that “the teen must now obtain consent from his parents through the parental supervision tools available on Instagram in order to change “some settings” of the application.
Minor users therefore need their parents’ explicit permission to switch their accounts from private to public, access more “sensitive” content and receive messages from people they do not already follow on the platform.
The “Meta” group, which includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it wanted to “better protect young people from unwanted communication” and “make it easier for parents to influence their children’s online experiences”.
Basic Instagram settings prevent users who are not yet connected to the underage teenager from communicating with him.
At the end of October last year, 41 US states filed a civil lawsuit against “Meta”, accusing “Facebook” and “Instagram” of “harming the mental and physical health of young people”, citing the dangers of addiction, cyberbullying, etc. Eating disorders.
Prosecutors confirmed in the lawsuit filed in a California court that “Mita used powerful and unprecedented techniques to lure young people and adolescents (…) and ultimately entrap them for profit.”
Both the Democratic and Republican plaintiffs accused the giant group of “hiding the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate the most vulnerable users” and “ignoring the significant harm” they cause to “the mental and physical health of the public.” Youth of our country”.
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