Meta announces plans to hide harmful content from teenagers’ feeds

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has announced plans to hide posts related to suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders from teenagers’ feeds. In an effort to create a safe and age-appropriate environment for young users, Meta will not only refrain from recommending such content but will also prevent it from appearing in their feeds, even if shared by accounts they follow. This decision is a response to concerns about the impact of harmful content on youth mental health.

In addition to hiding inappropriate content, Meta will apply the most restrictive settings to teen users’ accounts. This means that certain features will be limited, and they will be blocked from searching for terms that could be potentially harmful.

While Meta acknowledges the importance of discussions surrounding mental health issues, it believes that some topics may not be suitable for all young people. For example, a post about self-harm struggles can be valuable in reducing stigma, but it is a complex topic that requires careful handling. Therefore, Meta aims to remove such content from teenagers’ experiences on their platforms, along with other types of age-inappropriate material.

Meta’s announcement comes at a time when the company is facing legal action from numerous US states, accusing it of contributing to the youth mental health crisis through the deliberate design of addictive features on Instagram and Facebook. Despite this announcement, critics argue that Meta’s efforts fall short and question why these changes were not implemented sooner.