Meta tightens teen safety settings on Facebook, Messenger amid growing scrutiny

Meta is extending its age-appropriate “Teen Accounts” feature to Facebook and Messenger, aiming to enhance safety measures for users under 18. This initiative, first launched on Instagram in September, introduces more restrictive default settings for younger teens, including mandatory parental approval for live streaming and for disabling image protection in private messages.

While Meta claims the feature has significantly reshaped the teen experience on Instagram, critics argue that its real-world impact remains unclear.

Soon, Instagram will also require parental consent for younger teens who wish to go live or disable the platform’s nudity protection — a feature that automatically blurs images suspected to contain nudity in direct messages.

The move comes amid increasing pressure on social media companies to address risks associated with teens receiving unsolicited explicit content or being manipulated into sharing such images — a tactic commonly linked to sextortion schemes.

Professor Sonia Livingstone, who leads the Digital Futures for Children centre, acknowledged the potential value of Meta’s move, citing growing demand among families for safer, age-appropriate social media environments. However, she cautioned that broader concerns about Meta’s commercial practices and data-driven systems remain unresolved.