- Jul 24, 2018
Facebook and Instagram will be Suspending Accounts of 13 Year Old or Younger User
Facebook and Instagram are going to introduce a new “operational” change to their policies to reduce the number of underage users on its platforms. They will proactively shut down accounts which are suspected of being used by children below the age of 13. Earlier, Facebook and Instagram only locked accounts which were specifically reported. But now, every account which is known to be underage would be locked down regardless of them being reported or not.
If accounts are suspected to be run by children under than 13 years of age, they will be required to furnish a government-issued ID to regain control of their account. Facebook has become popular among the older demographics however Instagram primarily remains popular among young people. Locking down these accounts would affect a significant portion of Instagram's user numbers and ad revenue.
In a documentary by the U.K.’s Channel 4 and Firecrest Films, an undercover journalist became a Facebook content reviewer. One of the reviewers pointed out how they were instructed to ignore if an account seemed underage. It also pointed out that right-wing political pages had different standards for deletion or suspension.
In response to these allegations, Facebook said that these political pages were subjected another layer of review and that since then they have given a power to reviewers to put an account on hold if they find it is underage. This means that if a reviewer finds a strong signal that the account is being run by a child below 13 years of age, it will be shut down. One possible explanation why Facebook is getting serious about underage accounts, is the recent controversies it has been involved in. From data leaks to being accused of proliferating fake news, Facebook has been criticized over its content policies in the recent years. Hence, now it has tweaked many of its polices to become a safe and inclusive online platform.
Read more at www.digitaltrends.com