03-06-2025
Meta launches teen accounts to enhance SA teens' online safety
As a way to promote online safety for teenagers, Meta launched teen accounts on Instagram in South Africa on May 20 at Workshop 17 in Rosebank.
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The launch of teen accounts is part of Meta's commitment to ensuring safe and positive online experiences for teens across Africa.
Teen accounts is one of Meta's safety tools, created specifically for teenage users. It is a new experience that is guided by parents.
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Meta's safety policy manager in Africa, Middle East, and Turkey (AMET) Sylvia Musalagani explained: 'It has built-in protections which limit who can contact them and content they see. It also provides more ways to safely connect with friends and explore their interests. Teen accounts was designed to better support parents, and give them peace of mind that their teens have the right protections in place.'
Key protections offered with teen accounts include:
• Private accounts: Teen accounts are set to private by default, and teens under 16 can only change this setting with parental approval.
• Messaging restrictions: Teens can only receive messages from people they are already connected to.
• Sensitive co-interactions: Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow, and the strictest anti-bullying feature, hidden words, is enabled by default.
• Time limit reminders: Notifications prompt teens to exit the app after 60 minutes of daily usage.
• Sleep mode: Enabled from 22:00 to 07:00 this feature mutes notifications and sends automatic replies to direct messages (DMs) overnight.
Actress Mapaseka Koetle said, as a parent she was excited about Meta's safety features and appreciated that the platform required her to be involved in her child's social media activities.
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Related article: Keeping your child safe online
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