Report finds major gaps in Instagram’s teen safety features, Meta rejects claims
New Delhi: Several safety tools that Meta has promoted as safeguards for teenagers on Instagram are either ineffective, flawed, or in some cases absent, according to a study released by child-safety advocacy groups and corroborated by researchers at Northeastern University.
The report, titled “Teen Accounts, Broken Promises”, reviewed 47 safety features that Instagram has publicly announced over the past decade. Of these, only eight were found to function as intended. The rest, the study said, were “substantially ineffective,” discontinued, or easily bypassed, as reported by Reuters.
Researchers found that measures designed to block self-harm-related searches could be circumvented with minor spelling variations. Anti-bullying filters often failed to activate, even when tested with phrases Meta itself had cited as examples. Another tool, meant to redirect teens from bingeing self-harm content, did not trigger in tests.
Some features were found to be effective, such as “quiet mode,” which mutes notifications at night, and parental controls that require approval for changes to teen account settings.
The study was led by the UK-based Molly Rose Foundation and the U.S.-based Parents for Safe Online Spaces, both founded by parents who allege their children died after exposure to harmful content on social media platforms. Northeastern University researchers validated the findings, with professor Laura Edelson noting: “Using realistic testing scenarios, we can see that many of Instagram’s safety tools simply are not working.”
Meta rejected the report’s conclusions. Company spokesperson Andy Stone described it as “dangerously misleading,” arguing that the review misstated how Meta’s tools function and how families use them. “Teens who were placed into these protections saw less sensitive content, experienced less unwanted contact, and spent less time on Instagram at night,” Stone said.
The criticism was partly informed by internal tips from Arturo Bejar, a former Meta safety executive. Bejar, who worked with Instagram until 2021, said management repeatedly watered down effective ideas. “I experienced firsthand how good safety ideas got whittled down to ineffective features,” he said, stressing the need for independent scrutiny.
Reuters, which reviewed the report, confirmed some findings through its own tests and by examining internal Meta documents. In one case, a teen test account was able to access eating-disorder-related content by searching “skinnythighs,” a banned term altered slightly. Internal documents further revealed lapses in updating automated systems designed to detect and limit promotion of eating-disorder and suicide-related material, as well as delays in updating lists of search terms used by child predators.
Stone said Meta has since addressed these deficiencies, combining automation with human oversight.
The report follows Meta’s heightened scrutiny in the U.S. Last month, senators launched an investigation after disclosures showed company chatbots could engage minors in inappropriate conversations. Former employees also told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that the company downplayed internal findings about children’s exposure to predators in virtual reality spaces. Meta dismissed these claims as “nonsense.”
On Thursday, Meta announced that its teen account protections are being expanded to Facebook users outside the U.S. The company also said it is building partnerships with middle and high schools to bolster awareness of online safety. “We want parents to feel good about their teens using social media,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.
Meanwhile, Instagram confirmed a new rule barring users under 16 from livestreaming without parental consent. The company also reported removing 635,000 accounts that sexualised children.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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