Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 20, 2025

Instagram testing removal of messaging button for teens as part of privacy push

Instagram testing removal of messaging button for teens as part of privacy push

More restrictive privacy settings will also be added by default for teen users.
Instagram will remove the messaging button for teens if their account is viewed by a “suspicious adult” as part of a slew of privacy changes being introduced by parent company Meta.

The updates, which also include more restrictive settings for younger users on Facebook, come after a landmark ruling concluded that the social-media content viewed by British teen Molly Russell had contributed to her death by suicide.

Meta’s latest update builds on the limits it introduced last year to stop teens from interacting with adults they don’t know. These included restricting adults from messaging younger users they aren’t connected to or from seeing teens in their “People You May Know” recommendations. Now, it is testing removing the direct-messaging button altogether from teen users’ accounts if they’ve been viewed by a suspicious adult. Meta describes a “suspicious” account as one that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young person on its platforms.

Meanwhile, Facebook is implementing stricter privacy settings by default for teens aged under 16 (or 18 in some countries). It is also encouraging teens to enable limits on who can view their friends’ lists, the people and pages they follow, the posts they are tagged in, and who is allowed to comment on their posts, as well as urging them to review posts they are tagged in before they appear on their profile. The rules match similar updates that were previously introduced to Instagram. In addition, in August, the photo-sharing app also updated some safety controls for teenagers to make it less likely for them to encounter potentially sensitive content on the site.

As part of its ongoing privacy push, Meta is proactively encouraging younger users to report suspicious activity. A new notification will now prompt teens to report accounts to Meta after they block someone, which will then send them safety notices with info on how to navigate inappropriate messages from adults.

Meta says more than 100 million people saw its safety notices on Messenger in the span of one month in 2021. It added that it saw a 70 per cent increase in reports reported by minors in the first quarter of this year versus the previous quarter, on Messenger and Instagram DMs.

Finally, Meta is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on a global platform for teens to tackle intimate images they have created being shared publically online without their consent.

“We’ve been working closely with NCMEC, experts, academics, parents, and victim advocates globally to help develop the platform and ensure that it responds to the needs of teens so that they can regain control of their content in these horrific situations. We’ll have more to share on this new resource in the coming weeks.” Meta vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
×