Instagram announced this Tuesday (7) that it will be stricter with the types of content it recommends to teens and will transfer them to different areas if they focus on a topic for too long.
The company announced a series of changes for teen users. Instagram president Adam Mosseri is expected to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday on protecting children on the platform.
In the ad, Mosseri reported that Instagram has disabled the ability for users to tag or mention teenagers who don’t follow them in the app. Starting in January, teen users will be able to bulk delete their previous content, likes and comments.
In addition, the social network is exploring controls to limit potentially harmful or sensitive content suggested to teens through the search functions, hashtags, short videos and “suggested accounts” as well as the curated “Explore” page.
The company also announced the launch in the US, UK, Canada and Australia of the “Take a Break” feature [algo como dê uma pausa, em português], which reminds people to take a short break from the app after using it for a certain amount of time.
The company said that in March next year Instagram will launch the first tools for parents and guardians to see how much time their children spend on the app. The feature will also allow you to set time limits.
The Wall Street Journal published a recent report according to which internal company documents, leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, show that the company knows that Instagram can have harmful effects on the mental health of teenagers. Facebook said the documents were used to convey a false image of the company’s work.
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