Yesterday morning, Instagram stated it plans to introduce its own privacy updates to compete with TikTok, however, the social app didn’t add more privacy to the teen accounts by default.
The company has introduced its safety features, which would ban adult users to contact teens and follow them. However, the only exception to this rule are the teens who contact their adult family. When an adult tries to message a teen who he doesn’t follow, he will receive a message that it’s impossible.
In addition, Instagram has stated that it will be quite difficult for the adults to find and follow the teens in other places within the Instagram app, including Reels and Explore. The company also stated that it’s making machine learning-based technology and new AI, which would make it impossible for teens to lie about their age on the app. These features would find out even if teens lie about their age and date of birth. However, the company hasn’t made this feature live yet.
Other additions, which the company has introduced today, include some new safety resources for the parents. The company has also introduced educational material for teens. It will better explain the meaning of a public account on the app.
The launch timing is quite interesting here as TikTok introduced some privacy updates of its own for teens. So, it makes sense to say that Instagram has made this decision to compete with TikTok. Moreover, TikTok has always been a vigorous proponent of making the online world a safer place for teens. This includes not only the default setting changes; it also includes the parental controls it introduced last year.
Last year, TikTok introduced parental control on its app, which allows the parents to link themselves with their child’s account and control their privacy. Moreover, the company is continuously expanding these features. This shows that it is considering them as the key features. By making the privacy controls a key part of the entire experience, the parents have also started loving the app. This has increased the user base for TikTok.
Instagram may also introduce a similar feature soon. Moreover, the company has been quite active in the past too as it partnered with Facebook to launch a dating site in the U.S.
