Keeping safety in mind for teens, Meta has strengthened the privacy and parental control of Instagram accounts for users under 18 years. The company said that by default, Meta will port all teen accounts to private accounts. The users of such accounts will be able to send messages and tag only from accounts that they follow or with which they are already connected.

Not only that, but sensitive content can now also be set to most restricted by entering settings. Users below the age of 16 years will also not be able to change their default setting without taking permission from parents. Parents will get an option to limit app usage in order to monitor their children's behavior. With the new update, teens below the age of 18 on Instagram will now be warned to just shut down the app after 60 minutes every day.

Many studies indicate that excessive utilization of these social media sites is leading to high levels of depression and anxiety among teenagers. Meta, ByteDance's TikTok, and Google's YouTube are already facing hundreds of lawsuits regarding the addictive nature of social media on behalf of children and schools.

Last year, 33 US states, including powerful ones like California and New York, sued Meta for lying to the public about dangers on its platform. "From Facebook and Instagram down to TikTok, all allow even 13-year-old users to sign up," declared the states.