known to share such material. Meta also confirmed that a more stringent “Limited Content” setting for Facebook and Messenger will follow later this year.
Instagram adds new topic limits and external review
Instagram is going further by restricting teen exposure to specific topics, including posts about nutrition, weightlifting, and anxiety management, areas identified as potentially harmful to young audiences. Meta has also submitted its teen safety processes to online security firm Alice for independent assessment. Alice’s evaluation found that Instagram’s protections outperformed a leading competitor, with less mature content appearing on teen accounts. Areas flagged for improvement have already been addressed, Meta said.
The global rollout comes as multiple governments consider following Australia’s lead after it introduced an under-16 social media ban last December — the first of its kind. Although early reports suggest a majority of underage Australians are still accessing social platforms, Meta has already removed nearly 550,000 accounts it believed belonged to underage users in the country, signalling the potential business impact of stricter enforcement globally.