Meta rolls out a new update to protect young users

Meta (fomerly Facebook) has announced that it is rolling out a suite of new updates to further protect young users from online harm and create safe, age-appropriate experiences on Facebook and Instagram.

Effective immediately, everyone who is under the age of 16 – or 18 in certain countries – will have increased privacy settings automatically applied to their profiles when they join Facebook or Instagram.

The technology giant says it's improving its privacy settings to help prevent teens from connecting with adults whom the platforms deem as `suspicious' (an account that belongs to an adult that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young person), and won't appear in the teen's "People You May Know" recommendations.

Additionally, the company mentioned that it has developed new features to make it easier for young people to report any suspicious activity or content that makes them feel uncomfortable while using the platforms, as well as introducing new notifications that encourage them to use the new safety features.

The company has also said it is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to prevent teens' intimate images they created to be shared on public online platforms without their consent. This is similar to the feature it released to prevent the non-consensual sharing of intimate images for adults.