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To avoid the child welfare controversy plaguing Instagram, the meta will be rolling out several features aimed at increasing under-teen safety in the realm of virtual reality. It’s also added to Instagram’s existing app to reduce debate about how the app affects children.
The software controlling the Meta’s Quest VR headset allows parents to approve or deny purchases, block apps, view apps owned by teen users, and be notified of all purchases. Enabled only when a teenager connects their account to their parent’s, parental controls allow parents to view their child’s Screen Time, see who their child has added as a friend, and block content with a VR headset on their PC.
“We’re adding more in-app interventions to help teens have more positive experiences online through a variety of content,” said Vaishnavi J, Head of Youth Wellness at Meta. “It’s also about paying more attention to the time they spend online.”
The meta has recently been criticized by politicians for the way it treats young people. Most notably, lawmakers criticized the lack of safeguards around Instagram while using Instagram, citing an insider study of Meta published by a whistleblower that showed the company’s own concerns about teen use and mental health. Meta responded by launching new safety tools and discrediting leaked research.
The company has taken several new steps to enhance child safety. Now on Instagram, parents can limit app usage and set time of the week to see information about all posts their kids report. Instagram is also starting to send so-called “nudges” to its teenage users. These notifications are meant to reduce the time you spend on one topic (a potentially harmful topic) and move on to another topic. The same is true when teens spend too much time on one genre of Reels, a short-form video centered around the app Instagram has in an attempt to reclaim TikTok’s popularity and viewership.
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