SAN FRANCISCO: Instagram is introducing new policies to prevent adults from direct messaging teenagers who don’t follow them to moderate content and making sure users especially minors are safe.
Many of the changes focus on direct messaging, where Instagram users can privately chat with other Facebook users, as well as increasing the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect the real ages of users on the platform.
Among the new features include blocking adults from sending messages to people under 18 who they are not already following; the adult user will then receive a notification from Instagram that direct messaging is not available.
Safety Prompts will also be sent to teenagers encouraging them to be cautious in conversations in adults, with Instagram saying it will notify young users “when an adult who has been exhibiting potentially suspicious behaviour is interacting with them in DMs”.
Instagram currently has a minimum age of 13 in place. However, it concedes that “while many people are honest about their age, we know that young people can lie about their date of birth.
“When an adult tries to message a teen who doesn’t follow them, they receive a notification that DMing them isn’t an option. This feature relies on our work to predict peoples’ ages using machine learning technology, and the age people give us when they sign up,” Instagram explained in a statement.
“As we move to end-to-end encryption, we’re investing in features that protect privacy and keep people safe without accessing the content of DMs.”
Safety notices, or prompts, will be shared with teens “encouraging [them] to be cautious in conversations with adults they’re already connected to.”
Teens will then be given the option to end the conversation, or block, report, or restrict the adult if they want to. Instagram has said that these changes will be rolled out in select unspecified counties this month and will be available everywhere soon.
This data is gathered and analysed by artificial intelligence, the company explains, that can tell if an adult is sending a large number of friends or message requests to people under the age of 18.
