Meta Rolls Out Teen Account Supervision Tools on SNS Threads to Strengthen Online Safety
TECHWORLD ·
✦ AI Summary
Meta will apply teen account supervision tools to Threads to strengthen online safety for teenagers.
The feature will take effect starting next week, and it applies to users aged 14 to under 19.
Parents can manage their children’s app usage time, sleep mode, post tagging scope, and certain settings changes in Family Center.
Meta has introduced teen account supervision tools to Threads to strengthen online safety for teenagers. As a result, parents can manage their children’s app usage time and content settings.
In South Korea, Meta is also conducting educational programs for teenagers and parents together with the Digital Literacy Association. "Screen Smart" is a digital literacy program that introduces Meta’s teen safety policies and account management methods.
Meta held a "Screen Smart" roundtable on the 10th. The event, attended by educators, parents, and experts, focused on teenagers’ digital well-being, and Meta unveiled plans to expand teen protection features at the event.
The event introduced the main features of teen accounts and how to use them. Experts from academia, media, and the education field then discussed teenagers’ social media use and the role of parents.
Meta is expanding the teen account management framework already applied across several services to Threads. In his keynote address, Philip Chua, Meta’s head of policy for Asia-Pacific (APAC), said the teen account management and supervision features would be applied to Threads starting next week. This will broaden the scope from Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger to text-based social media as well. Teen accounts apply to users aged 14 to under 19.
Teen accounts include default limits on who users can contact and interact with, age-appropriate content labels, and time-limit notifications. When parents are connected, they can check and set their child’s daily app usage time in Family Center. They can also manage sleep mode, which applies from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., as well as the scope of post tagging.
Meta also offers settings that require direct parental approval when making major changes to privacy and content-related settings. In addition, Meta has already applied a 13-and-up movie rating standard to the content exposure criteria for teen Instagram accounts. For parents seeking stricter restrictions, it has also introduced and operated a "limited content" mode.
Last August, Meta expanded globally, including in South Korea, the scope of protection features for teenagers who repeatedly search for harmful terms such as suicide and self-harm. The feature works by notifying parents who use the supervision tools, and it also provides them with expert resources.
Chua also explained that teenagers need safety across all apps, while also needing the freedom to participate in the digital world. He added that Meta has built protection features into its own platforms and is proactively responding to teen safety concerns in South Korea and other countries.
During the panel discussion, participants said that rather than uniformly limiting teenagers’ social media usage time, it is necessary to consider the purpose of use and its impact on daily life. The discussion included Lee Ji-yeon, professor of counseling psychology at the Graduate School of Education at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies; Bang Jong-im, CEO of Education Doctor TV; and Park Il-jun, chair of the Digital Literacy Association. The conversation focused on communication between parents and children and ways to regulate online activity.
Together with the Digital Literacy Association, Meta will run an online education campaign to increase the use of teen protection features. Related guidance will be provided through Meta’s platforms and the association’s official channels, with plans to explain how to use the default protection features in teen accounts and how to use the parent supervision features.
Huh Wook, vice president of external policy at Meta Korea, said the event was intended to explore ways for families, platforms, and society to work together for teenagers’ safe digital experiences. He added that Meta will continue working with a range of stakeholders to help build a healthy digital ecosystem that parents and teenagers in South Korea can use with confidence.
Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Seung-gi
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=406808
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Source: TECHWORLD
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