Meta unveiled new safety features for teen users on Wednesday, including enhanced direct messaging protections to block “exploitative content,” according to CNBC. Teens will be shown more details about who they’re chatting with on Instagram, including account creation dates and safety tips to help identify potential scammers. They can now block and report accounts in one step. Meta said users blocked and reported accounts 1 million times each in June after receiving Safety Notices. The company also removed nearly 135,000 Instagram accounts for sexualizing children and shut down 500,000 related accounts across Facebook and Instagram. All teen and child-representing accounts are now automatically set to strict messaging and comment filters. The updates come as Congress revives the Kids Online Safety Act, which would mandate tech companies to prevent harm to minors.
