Story
Meta to Launch Parental Controls on Threads in U.S.
Summary
Meta Platforms is expanding its Family Center supervision tools to its Threads app, giving parents the ability to monitor usage, set time limits, and manage safety settings for teen accounts.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) announced it will begin rolling out parental supervision tools for its Threads social media app in the U.S. next week. The move extends the company's Family Center controls to the newer platform, granting parents and guardians greater oversight of their teens' activity.
New Tools for Parental Oversight
The new features will provide parents with a suite of controls to manage their teen's experience on Threads. According to the company's announcement, these tools are designed to foster safer online habits and give guardians more direct involvement.
Key capabilities will include:
- Viewing the amount of time a teen has spent on Threads daily over the past week.
- Setting daily time limits and scheduling specific hours when the app is inaccessible.
- Managing who can tag or mention their teen in posts.
- Adjusting certain privacy settings and sensitive content preferences.
For users under the age of 16, parents will also have the ability to approve or deny their teen's requests to change default safety and privacy settings to be less strict.
Strategic Importance Amid Scrutiny
AdThis expansion of safety features comes as social media companies face increasing regulatory and public pressure regarding the well-being of younger users. By proactively implementing these controls on Threads, Meta aims to address concerns over screen time and online safety, which have become a key focus for lawmakers and advocacy groups.
The move aligns Threads with other platforms in Meta's portfolio, such as Instagram, which already have similar supervision tools. For investors, such measures are viewed as essential for mitigating regulatory risk and supporting the long-term, sustainable growth of a platform by building trust with users and advertisers.
Building on Existing Safeguards
The new supervision tools supplement automatic protections already in place for teen accounts on Threads. By default, accounts for new users under 16 are set to private, and the platform already limits their exposure to certain types of content.
Meta stated that parents and guardians can set up the new supervision features through its dedicated Family Center portal.
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