Instagram launches new safety features for teen users amid push for more controls on apps

WASHINGTON — Instagram announced it was launching additional safety features and privacy settings for its younger users, but lawmakers and advocates in Washington still want more action to be taken to keep kids safe online.

Channel 2 Washington Correspondent Nicole D’Antonio was in Washington to show what the new teen account settings are and how it is expected to help keep teenage Instagram users safer.

Among the new features is the ability to limit who can contact teen users, what content they are able to view and how much time they spend on the application.

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Meta, Instagram’s parent company, said accounts for all users under 18 years old will automatically be set to private with the new feature rollout and notifications will be muted from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Going forward, accounts teens are already connected with will still be able to send them messages, tag them in photos or mention them in comments, but unconnected users and accounts will not be able to.

The changes come as lawmakers at the Capitol work to pass a set of bills aimed at making all social media platforms safer for teen users or younger.

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One bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. Senate, but it’s fate in the House of Representatives isn’t immediately clear.

Parents and advocates tell Channel 2 Action News that they’re worried if it doesn’t get approved by the end of the year, they may have to start from scratch.

“As a parent, I can’t do it alone. I need social media companies to take accountability to help us out as parents and make sure things of that nature don’t get through these algorithms,” Laquanta Hernandez, a parent, said.

The U.S. Surgeon General is also warning parents about social media’s impacts on mental health.

One of the main concerns is with the content kids are watching online.

For years now, parents have traveled to Washington to share stories about how cyberbullying and mental health struggles on the various social media sites has impacted their children.

“No child in the United States, no child ever should have to go through this,” Hernandez said.

The last federal law aimed at protecting kids online was passed and enacted in 1998.

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