Instagram will ban adults from DMing minors who don’t follow them
Instagram will restrict
adults from sending direct messages to teens who don’t follow them.
The new feature is part of Instagram’s efforts to protect its youngest users from “unwanted contact from adults”, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The feature will block
adults from messaging people under 18 years old who don’t follow them. The Facebook-owned
company said adults who attempt to do so will receive a notification that
sending the message is not an option.
It continued, “This feature relies on our work to predict
peoples’ ages using machine learning technology, and the age people give us
when they sign up. As we move to end-to-end encryption, we’re investing in
features that protect privacy and keep people safe without accessing the
content of DMs.”
Instagram said it will also send notices to teens to be
careful in conversations with adults they do follow, and also alert them to
adults who have shown possible suspicious behaviour such as sending numerous
friend requests to under-18 children.
The roll-out will begin in some countries in March as the
company hopes to have it available everywhere soon.
