Did you know Increasing Lawsuits Force Meta To Hide All Inappropriate Content From Teen Accounts On Facebook and Instagram
Tech giant Meta mentioned recently how it would be banning all kinds of
inappropriate content from being displayed across its leading Facebook
and Instagram apps.
The news comes after the company was called
out in the form of a lawsuit for not doing enough to protect minors on
its platforms. The lawsuit further proved how posts linked to disturbing
domains like self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and other explicit
themes were published without any checks and balances.
Therefore, Meta has confirmed how it would be hiding all kinds of inappropriate content coming from teenage accounts.
The
tech giant based in California has been scrutinized in the past as well
with many activists and studies proving how social media can
drastically impact the lives of youngsters and for that reason, top
companies in the industry need to do more to curb the situation.
The company has tried for a while to justify how it was trying to do everything in its power to prevent any inappropriate recommendations from popping up across users’ screens but clearly, that was not enough.
Now, it has vowed to stop showing it on its feeds by hiding it, despite coming from a source that the teenage user might be following.
Meta released another statement on this front too including how its goal
at the moment was to ensure all users had a safe and secure browsing
experience online and for that, they would be doing everything to ensure
all the right safeguards were in place.
This seems to be a
positive start to the new year, even though others feel it was a long
time coming and perhaps should have been looked at in detail much
earlier. Meta similarly spoke about how teens would be barred from
searching for words that they feel are harmful or not appropriate for
their age groups.
Let’s take the example of a user publishing
posts about their mental health struggles and then beliefs about
self-harm. This could be a very serious story and could assist in
destigmatizing all kinds of issues. It’s a very complex ordeal and
certainly not appropriate for youngsters for sure.
This is why
Meta is planning to do a lot more on this front. They want the best user
experience on their apps. But what is interesting is how the reports
arise at a time when the company has been bombarded with all kinds of
lawsuits sent in by dozens of American states.
They have accused Facebook’s parent firm of knowingly causing harm to
the youth and also adding further hardships to the ongoing mental health
scenario by purposefully creating features for both Facebook as well as
Instagram that have kids addicted to the apps and so much more.
Meanwhile, critics have been arguing for years about how Meta has yet to do enough to curb the ongoing matter.
The move announced by Meta today is clearly a serious and desperate one
to prevent further scrutiny and control from top watchdogs and also to
prevent more fines from arising in its direction.
Meanwhile, one
top member of a kids’ advocacy group has made claims relating to how
this news by Meta is a clear slap in those parents’ faces who had to go
through losing children due to top companies not doing enough to ensure
they are protected and guarded at all times.
He also questioned
why Meta waited so long to roll out the measures when it could have been
much earlier and saved so many young lives.