One of the fundamental issues on which social media is criticized is the extent to which children who use it can be exposed to various forms of «attacks».
This risk is exacerbated by the increasing degree to which children today, because of the conditions imposed by the pandemic, are exposed to the digital world on a daily basis.
In this light, a recent Instagram announcement states that it is trying to «banish» such behaviors within the application with a new package of features designed to protect younger users from malicious adults.
Most importantly, adults will no longer be allowed to send messages to users under the age of 18 who do not follow them. The list of measures goes on and obviously there will need to be clarification in many areas, such as how to overcome the reef of false age statement.
However, it should be appreciated that while we usually – and rightly so – expect public institutions to impose such regulatory frameworks, here comes the platform itself to enforce them first.
And such a thing has a special significance, as the framework for the safe use of the internet can not be built without the assistance of the pioneers of the digital world themselves. Self-regulation in other words on social media is essential.
Photo by McKaela Taylor on Unsplash
