Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Sep 12, 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
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
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
×