On 17 September, the Meta group announced the launch of « Teen Accounts« on Instagram, a new feature designed to enhance the safety of minors on the social network. These new accounts will be rolled out gradually, starting with the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia, then in France and in Europe by end of the year.
The accounts of users with between 13 and 17 years old will be transferred to a «teenage account» with predefined features, including the blocking of sensitive content, the private accounts by default, the sleep mode or even the limitation of time use of the application. For 13-15 year olds, these settings can only be changed with parental authorisation.
Following these announcements, Justine Atlan, The Association's Chief Executive Officer was interviewed by The Figaro In response, she emphasises:
« That's quite brave of Instagram. to enable these features by default» However, she points out that «age verification is the key to success» and wonders about new users who might be tempted to lie about their age in order to’evade these restrictions. For her, «Age verification is required upon registration." and Instagram has shown us that it knows how to do it.»
