By Deborah Nnamdi
Meta has announced the global rollout of its “teen accounts” on Facebook and Messenger, extending additional safety features and parental controls to adolescents worldwide.
The company said on Thursday that hundreds of millions of teens are now using the accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. First launched on Instagram last year, the initiative was expanded in April to Facebook and Messenger users in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.
According to Meta, the teen accounts include enhanced privacy settings, content restrictions, and tools for parental oversight for users aged 13 to 17. The company said the features are aimed at addressing parents’ concerns by limiting who teens can interact with online, controlling the type of content they see, and helping manage screen time.
The restrictions cannot be lifted without parental consent for users under 16, Meta added.
The move comes amid mounting global concern over young people’s use of social media, with critics warning of excessive screen time and insufficient safeguards on many platforms.
