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The parents of a young woman afflicted with a severe eating disorder are blaming Instagram in a lawsuit. Instead of blaming the content, however, they are targeting the accusations at the platform’s algorithms in an attempt to skirt around the Section 230 code.
The lawsuit filed in California federal court alleges Instagram’s parent company Meta purposely crafted products to addict young users, steering one 11-year-old girl down a years-long path of physical and psychological harm.
Instagram has introduced a new set of mindfulness-oriented tools. This time, it’s not about taking a break from scrolling, only about switching to a different topic if you’re dwelling on something long enough.
The new feature is meant for teens, nudging them away from content that might be harmful for them. However, users will get notified if they spend too much time exploring one topic, whether it’s considered harmful or not.
Yet another lawsuit has arisen against Snap, and this time, Google and Apple have been sued, too. A 16-year-old girl and her mother sued the three companies after a grown man, an active-duty Marine, had manipulated the girl into sending him nude photos since she was 12. The lawsuit claims that the companies failed to protect teen users from “egregious harm” and the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM).
If you’ve always wanted a tool that would give you an insight into your kid’s activity on Instagram – well, now there is one. Meta has announced the new Supervision Tools on Instagram and VR, so you can now have more control over your children’s use of social media.
Meta’s Head of Youth, Pavni Diwanji, is leaving the company. She is the executive in charge of Instagram’s controversial “Instagram for Kids,” which has received quite a fierce backlash since it was announced this time last year.
Just as announced, Facebook has published its controversial study about Instagram’s impact on the mental health of teenagers. The company revealed the slides that had previously leaked, but also the rest of the report that had been intended for Facebook’s eyes only.
According to a recently leaked internal report, Facebook is well aware of how bad Instagram’s influence on teenagers is. The report caused quite a stir, so the company will soon be forced to publish its findings.
Facebook’s controversial “Instagram for kids” got under the spotlight again. The company’s own internal report has shown that Instagram has been causing mental-health problems in teenagers, especially girls, including even suicidal thoughts. After the report has leaked, Democratic lawmakers have started calling on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg again to drop the project.
Instagram has announced some changes in the app with the aim of protecting teens. From now on, users under 16 (or 18 in some countries) will have their accounts set to private by default. Messaging between kids and adults will be limited as well, and so will the ads teens can see on the platform.
Instagram has introduced new features aimed particularly at the youngest members of the community. While kids under 13 will still be able to lie about their age easily, Instagram is trying to keep the potential predators away from them.
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