Facebook parent company Meta is rolling out additional parental supervision measures for Instagram and its virtual reality headset, expanding on a suite of tools released in the U.S. in recent months.
The changes come on the heels of a year of intense public scrutiny for the company, with significant criticism focused on child safety and Instagram’s detrimental effects on younger users, particularly teenage girls.
Last fall, a Wall Street Journal investigation reported that the company’s studies had repeatedly confirmed the harmful effects of the photo-sharing app on teenage girls’ mental health, even as Meta proceeded with a controversial plan to develop a version of the social media platform for kids under 13. (That project has since been put on hold.)
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