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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No nation can progress unless small traders are protected: Arvind Kejriwal
Chandigarh (PTI): No nation can progress unless small shopkeepers and traders are protected and given ease of doing business, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Kejriwal made the remarks while addressing the maiden meeting of the Punjab State Traders Commission in Mohali, where he was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The former Delhi chief minister said that through the commission, local markets will be upgraded, and long-pending small issues of shopkeepers will be resolved.
He said the purpose of the commission is to make the tax system simpler, more transparent, and trader-friendly.
"Till now, in our country, traders and businessmen have been viewed with a very negative mindset. No matter which government or which party ruled, everyone treated traders as thieves," Kejriwal said.
"I pray that one day our government is formed at the Centre and we free you from GST. There is a kind of tax terrorism going on," he said.
Kejriwal termed the traders also a victim of politicians, who, he said, only remember them during elections and then, once in power, to extort money till the next election.
"I come from a trading family. I understand the pain and suffering of a trader. You may remember how, as children, we used to go to the village during summer holidays. My uncle there had a grocery shop at the bus stand. During summer vacations, many times I would manage the entire shop alone for days. I understand the pain of a shopkeeper," he said.
The AAP leader said the governments always talk about big investments everywhere. "But no one ever paid attention to the small shopkeeper running a grocery store, a clothing shop, a bread shop, a tile shop, or shops in small markets."
Attacking the rival parties in Punjab, he said that after their run was over, neither the Akali Dal nor the Congress would have dared to go among the public and seek honest feedback.
"After four years, they would face such abuse that I do not think the Congress government would have had the courage to pass around a microphone in a public gathering and say, speak whatever you want … If it had happened during the Akali Dal government, the microphone would not have returned," he said.
