Instagram to roll out new parental control features

The aim

Mia Garlick, Meta ANZ’s Director of Policy, made a statement acknowledging the platform’s responsibility to protect its young users’ safety while still allowing them to have fun on the app. Research conducted in 2021 revealed that incidents of cyberbullying increased drastically throughout the pandemic when people were spending more time on social media than ever before – some experts estimate the figure rose 70% in just a few months at the onset Covid-19 lockdowns. The Meta-owned platform is rolling out these new measures in an effort to protect kids and teens from experiencing bullying and harassment on Instagram.

The features

The new parental control features will allow parents to see who their child follows and who follows them back, set in-app time limits for their child, and be notified when their child reports content and see what content has been reported. To enable the tools, either the parent or the child must send an invitation to activate the controls. Both the parent and the child have to consent before the parent has access to the controls. As always, children must be at least 13 years old to use the app.

The reaction

Although most parents are on board with this update, some are speaking out against it, claiming that Instagram is pushing the obligation onto parents instead of taking responsibility themselves. Digital advocacy groups are criticising the app, saying that a multi-million dollar company should use its resources to create a safer platform rather than creating extra work for parents in monitoring their children online. However, with ReachOut research showing that 30% of parents feel concerned about their teens’ social media usage, many parents feel that these new controls could be a significant first step towards an overall safer platform for all users.