Concerns rise about potential loopholes in new Instagram Teen Accounts

ONEONTA, Ala. ( WIAT ) – Meta is introducing Instagram Teen Accounts, enacting stricter privacy and safety measures on accounts for ages 13 to 17. Many studies over the last few years have shown the dangers unmonitored social media use can have on young minds.

“There is a lot of good social media and there is a bad social media that most of the kids follow,” Oneonta resident Oscar Payano said.

While many people agree stricter privacy on teens’ social media accounts is a good thing, some are unsure of how well it will work.

“A lot of times, if somebody’s going to rob a bank or something, they’re going to rob it, you know? So they’re going to find that loophole to do what they want to do,” Oneonta resident Chris Barnett said.

According to Meta, the new Instagram Teen Accounts will have default settings to include private accounts, restrictions on who can message, tag and mention them, and muted notifications overnight. Meta says teens will need parental permission to change these settings. Some people say these controls are great because social media poses a bigger risk than it should for teens.

“They have access to way more apps than they should,” Oneonta resident Denise Tolbert said. “It would be good to know what teenagers are doing and looking into.”

Some people hope the new features will help protect children from predators and school threats, but they also say that because today’s kids are smart and tech savvy, it may not protect them as much as people think.

“I talk to a lot of kids at my job and the way they think is a lot different than the way I was raised,” Oneonta resident Leann Riper said. “The way they present themselves, the way they talk, the way they are around their friends, the way they are in a public area than they are behind closed doors.”

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey says it’s likely kids will find loopholes around the age restrictions and parental controls put in place.

“Usually kids know more about social media, more about phones, and how things really work than really their parents,” Casey said. “What you see a lot of kids do is they may sit down and go ‘oh hey mom, here’s my account’ and mom may turn on the privacy features and the teen account features that Instagram is trying to roll out, but they’re going to have another account that they’re using to talk to people that mom and dad don’t really know about.”

Casey says the best way to protect children is to not give them a smartphone or phone with camera access and give them a phone that can only be used to communicate with family and trusted adults.

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