Instagram to release photos of its kids online, but Congress must act anyway

On Tuesday, Meta announced new measures – shamefully long overdue – aimed at protecting minors on Instagram.

It introduced “Teen Accounts” which give parents more control and limit what content children see and who can contact them.

It’s a big step forward for child online safety, for sure, but not for everyone. close to a complete repair.

CEO Mark Zuckerburg is not making this decision out of the goodness of his heart. Meta was forced to fold after years of cover-ups in the face of clear evidence (that the company itself had buried) of the damage done to young minds by the ruthless harvesting of children’s eyes.

Never forget that the company deliberately sought to turn as many children as possible into addicted, end-time zombies, using what it calls “engagement metrics” (consumption levels) as its only north star.

Ask any parent of a teenager: Screen time is an unfortunately constant point of family contention.

Three in four Gen Zers say social media has had a negative impact on their mental health, with Instagram and TikTok being the main culprits.

Zuckerberg is now clearly trying to soften the crackdown in the form of the Kids Online Safety Act.

The bill, which is gaining traction in Congress, would impose a “duty of care” on social media platforms, requiring them to avoid characteristics that contribute to harassment, bullying, sexual exploitation or mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in minors.

Meta’s new protection measures are practically copy-pasted a few measures called for in the bill, including allowing parents to control privacy and account settings and set time restrictions on their child’s account.

Instagram’s policies would also block notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. (it would still be up to parents to block or limit minors’ late-night access to the app altogether), limit who can see the content of minors’ profiles to their followers (making them “private” by default), limit who can contact minors, and send reminders to discourage minors from leaving the app if they scroll for more than 60 minutes per day.

Everything is fine : But This won’t solve the problem of social media app algorithms being intentionally addictive. Or that social media is causing depression and anxiety in children and teens at a frightening rate.

And it’s not clear how Instagram will prevent teens from evading restrictions by simply lying about their age.

But there is a reason Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls for warning on social media sites: Children who spend more than three hours a day on social media double their risk of depression and anxiety.

Social media does not deserve the public’s trust, given its past behavior. If it had any idea of ​​the societal consequences of its actions, it would have taken these measures years ago.

Congress is expected to pass KOSA anyway.