Meta has announced a massive enforcement sweep, removing over 635,000 Instagram and Facebook accounts involved in sexually predatory behaviour toward minors. The effort includes 135,000 Instagram accounts that directly targeted teens with inappropriate comments or requests, plus an additional 500,000 accounts that followed or supported those harmful profiles.
The action coincides with the release of several new safety features aimed at protecting teen users. These include:
- Automatic nudity protection in direct messages
- Warning labels and profile info when receiving DMs from unknown users
- Stronger location visibility in chat tools
- Default private profiles and message restrictions for all users under 16
- One-tap reporting for faster flagging of abuse
Meta says that in June alone, teens used these tools to report or block more than 2 million suspicious accounts. The company has also begun testing age estimation AI to detect underage users attempting to join and automatically place them into teen-restricted experiences.
While many welcome this crackdown, critics argue it’s still too reactive—taking down predatory content after harm begins. Advocates urge Meta and other platforms to shift toward proactive prevention, such as improved AI moderation and reduced discoverability of minors by adults.
These new tools only work if they’re switched on. Parents should review teen account settings—make sure DM restrictions, nudity filters, and private profiles are all enabled. And talk with your child about reporting suspicious behaviour immediately.
New York Post -> Read more here
