Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Instagram testing removal of messaging button for teens as part of privacy push

Instagram testing removal of messaging button for teens as part of privacy push

More restrictive privacy settings will also be added by default for teen users.
Instagram will remove the messaging button for teens if their account is viewed by a “suspicious adult” as part of a slew of privacy changes being introduced by parent company Meta.

The updates, which also include more restrictive settings for younger users on Facebook, come after a landmark ruling concluded that the social-media content viewed by British teen Molly Russell had contributed to her death by suicide.

Meta’s latest update builds on the limits it introduced last year to stop teens from interacting with adults they don’t know. These included restricting adults from messaging younger users they aren’t connected to or from seeing teens in their “People You May Know” recommendations. Now, it is testing removing the direct-messaging button altogether from teen users’ accounts if they’ve been viewed by a suspicious adult. Meta describes a “suspicious” account as one that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young person on its platforms.

Meanwhile, Facebook is implementing stricter privacy settings by default for teens aged under 16 (or 18 in some countries). It is also encouraging teens to enable limits on who can view their friends’ lists, the people and pages they follow, the posts they are tagged in, and who is allowed to comment on their posts, as well as urging them to review posts they are tagged in before they appear on their profile. The rules match similar updates that were previously introduced to Instagram. In addition, in August, the photo-sharing app also updated some safety controls for teenagers to make it less likely for them to encounter potentially sensitive content on the site.

As part of its ongoing privacy push, Meta is proactively encouraging younger users to report suspicious activity. A new notification will now prompt teens to report accounts to Meta after they block someone, which will then send them safety notices with info on how to navigate inappropriate messages from adults.

Meta says more than 100 million people saw its safety notices on Messenger in the span of one month in 2021. It added that it saw a 70 per cent increase in reports reported by minors in the first quarter of this year versus the previous quarter, on Messenger and Instagram DMs.

Finally, Meta is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on a global platform for teens to tackle intimate images they have created being shared publically online without their consent.

“We’ve been working closely with NCMEC, experts, academics, parents, and victim advocates globally to help develop the platform and ensure that it responds to the needs of teens so that they can regain control of their content in these horrific situations. We’ll have more to share on this new resource in the coming weeks.” Meta vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×