Facebook will enable more private settings by default for teens

WASHINGTON: Social media giant Facebook has announced that for anyone under the age of 16 who signs up for the platform, they will be enabling more private settings by default.

According to The Verge, for teens who already have a Facebook account, the platform will display a prompt encouraging them to use these settings, as well as a toggle that turns them on in a single tap.

What Facebook's referring to as "more private" settings restricts details on an account so that only a teen's friends can view the posts they're tagged in, their friends' list, and the pages, people, and lists they follow.

Additionally, they only permit friends to comment on their public postings and ask users to review the posts in which they are tagged, reported The Verge. Facebook is also making more of an effort to safeguard teenagers from predatory adults. It is exploring a method to stop teenagers from texting adults who have recently been blocked or reported by a teenager.

The platform will also stop suggesting these "suspicious" people to teens in the People You May Know section and will start asking them to report the accounts they have blocked.

Meanwhile, Instagram is experimenting with fully eliminating the messaging button from underage users' accounts when they are seen by a suspicious adult, as per The Verge.