Tech giant Meta mentioned recently how it would be banning all kinds of inappropriate content from being displayed across its leading Facebook and Instagram apps.
The news comes after the company was called out in the form of a lawsuit for not doing enough to protect minors on its platforms. The lawsuit further proved how posts linked to disturbing domains like self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and other explicit themes were published without any checks and balances.
Therefore, Meta has confirmed how it would be hiding all kinds of inappropriate content coming from teenage accounts.
The tech giant based in California has been scrutinized in the past as well with many activists and studies proving how social media can drastically impact the lives of youngsters and for that reason, top companies in the industry need to do more to curb the situation.
The company has tried for a while to justify how it was trying to do everything in its power to prevent any inappropriate recommendations from popping up across users’ screens but clearly, that was not enough.
Now, it has vowed to stop showing it on its feeds by hiding it, despite coming from a source that the teenage user might be following.
Meta released another statement on this front too including how its goal at the moment was to ensure all users had a safe and secure browsing experience online and for that, they would be doing everything to ensure all the right safeguards were in place.
This seems to be a positive start to the new year, even though others feel it was a long time coming and perhaps should have been looked at in detail much earlier. Meta similarly spoke about how teens would be barred from searching for words that they feel are harmful or not appropriate for their age groups.
Let’s take the example of a user publishing posts about their mental health struggles and then beliefs about self-harm. This could be a very serious story and could assist in destigmatizing all kinds of issues. It’s a very complex ordeal and certainly not appropriate for youngsters for sure.
This is why Meta is planning to do a lot more on this front. They want the best user experience on their apps. But what is interesting is how the reports arise at a time when the company has been bombarded with all kinds of lawsuits sent in by dozens of American states.
They have accused Facebook’s parent firm of knowingly causing harm to the youth and also adding further hardships to the ongoing mental health scenario by purposefully creating features for both Facebook as well as Instagram that have kids addicted to the apps and so much more.
Meanwhile, critics have been arguing for years about how Meta has yet to do enough to curb the ongoing matter.
The move announced by Meta today is clearly a serious and desperate one to prevent further scrutiny and control from top watchdogs and also to prevent more fines from arising in its direction.
Meanwhile, one top member of a kids’ advocacy group has made claims relating to how this news by Meta is a clear slap in those parents’ faces who had to go through losing children due to top companies not doing enough to ensure they are protected and guarded at all times.
He also questioned why Meta waited so long to roll out the measures when it could have been much earlier and saved so many young lives.
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