Bereaved families rally, demand online safety for kids

A group of 45 bereaved families on Thursday held a vigil outside one of Meta’s offices in New York City to honor their children who they said were harmed by social media. Some of the children died by suicide or while participating in social media challenges, while others experienced sextortion and cyberbullying online, according to the parents.

Event organizers also delivered an open letter addressed to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The letter demanded that Meta stop promoting dangerous content to children, prevent predators from using the platforms to contact kids, and respond more quickly to reports made by children. The letter writers claimed that Meta refused to extend features that block messages from strangers to older teenagers. More than 11,280 signed the online version of the letter by Friday morning.

How did Meta respond? Spokeswoman Sophie Vogel told TechCrunch that the company has introduced new protections on Instagram through the Teen Accounts feature. That system limits who on the platform can contact teenagers and the content they see, and requires parental permission to change the settings. Meta said earlier this month that it plans to expand the feature to Facebook and Messenger. Meta also recently said it was using AI to find teens using adult accounts on Instagram.

Have any new policies to protect children taken effect recently? The United Kingdom’s communications regulator Ofcom on Thursday warned tech companies that they must change algorithms that recommend content to young people. Ofcom published its new Children’s Codes that also require websites to block children’s access to dangerous content by July to continue operating in the U.K. The guidance specifically calls out platforms that host pornography and content that encourages self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide. Companies could face fines or be blocked if they fail to comply with the policy. Four British families traveled to the United States to join the protest Thursday as the new rules were released.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report about a whistleblower’s testimony about how Meta targeted ads to people in emotional distress.