Instagram now allows teens to limit interactions with ‘close friends’ to avoid online harassment- Details

Meta’s social media platform Instagram is beefing up its features to protect teens from harassment. Instagram is one of the platforms that is always in the spotlight when it comes to keeping teens safe. However, the company has introduced several stringent safety and security features over the years for parents and teens to protect them from any unethical practices or activities. Now, Instagram highlights that it has introduced a new feature to “Limits” that allows users to limit their interactions with their established close friends.

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Instagram limit tool for teens

According to Tech Crunch report, Instagram is adding additional safety features to its “Limits” tools designed specifically for teens to combat harassment. This feature will completely limit user interaction with unwanted or unknown people and allow teens to interact with their close friends. When this feature is enabled, users will only see comments, messages, story replies, tags, and mentions from friends added to the list, while for other users the feature This will be completely muted.

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While the restricted feature is available to all users, restricted interactions will only be available to teen users on Instagram. This feature will be enabled by default in ‘Close Friends’ settings, allowing users to limit bullying and harassment. If this restriction does not suit a user’s preferences, they can also choose to limit interactions to “recent followers.” Furthermore, if users feel uncomfortable with any particular account, they can limit interaction with that account instead of blocking it completely. This will simply hide comments, mentions, and tags.

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Meta takes on youth mental health and safety issues

The Meta platform has been accused of not taking the mental health of its teenage users seriously. Some parents of teenage children have reported issues of bullying and harassment on the platform. Therefore, to protect its teenage user base, Meta has introduced several safety measures and features. Recently, in January, the company introduced a feature that restricts users over 18 from messaging teens along with strict parental controls. Now, the interaction limit feature will become more useful for young Instagram users to avoid harassment or bullying.

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