Multimedia platform Instagram on Thursday rolled out its parental supervision feature in India to enable parents in getting more involved in their children's experiences on the app. The platform has also introduced a ‘Family Center’, which enables parents and guardians to access supervision tools and resources from leading experts, Instagram said in a statement.
Instagram said its parent company Meta has been working closely with experts, parents, guardians from India to understand the needs of parents and young people. The tech giant had launched Parental Supervision Controls and Family Centre in the United States in March this year.
“The safety of our community is of paramount importance to us at Meta. The supervision tools and the Family Center will add to our efforts on keeping young people safe,” Natasha Jog, head of public policy, Instagram stated.
“Our intention is to strike the right balance for young people's desire for some autonomy when using Instagram, but also allows for supervision in a way that supports conversations between parents and young people when it is helpful,” she added.
With the new supervision tools, the parents and guardians can now manage how much time their children spend on the multimedia platform. It will help the people in managing their time on Instagram by setting screen time limits and scheduling breaks during the day and week.
Instagram said the parents and guardians can also view what accounts the young people follow and the accounts that follow them. The parents will be notified when the children report someone on the app.
With the new supervision tools, the parents and guardians can now manage how much time their children spend on the multimedia platform. It will help the people in managing their time on Instagram by setting screen time limits and scheduling breaks during the day and week.
Instagram said the parents and guardians can also view what accounts the young people follow and the accounts that follow them. The parents will be notified when the children report someone on the app.
Last year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had said in a survey that despite mandating users to be at least 13 years of age, Meta's social media platforms had a significant number of users aged around ten, Livemint reported.
According to the survey report, nearly one in every four 10-year-old internet user in India had an Instagram account. The NCPCR called for moves to regulate access to social media platforms for such under-age users.