Instagram on Thursday announced that it is expanding its “restrict” tool for teenagers to help them limit unwanted interactions in an effort to combat harassment on the platform. When turned on, the feature will allow teenagers to only see comments, messages, story replies, tags, and mentions from their “close friends” group, muting interactions from other accounts.
The company originally introduced the Limits feature as a test in 2021 after England players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho faced online abuse following their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Now, anyone can use Limits, but you can only limit interactions with people you follow, in addition to long-time followers.
Image credit: Instagram
The feature is tailored for teens who currently default to a “close friends” setting, which Instagram says is specifically meant to protect people from bullying and harassment: Accounts that aren't in someone's “close friends” group will be able to interact with them, but their activity won't appear in their feed.
Alternatively, teens can choose to limit interactions with recently followed accounts (accounts they started following within the past week or accounts they are no longer following).
Additionally, the company has added a new feature to its “Restrict” feature that allows you to limit interaction with a specific account without blocking it. Instagram will hide all comments from a restricted account, and the account will no longer be able to tag or mention you.
The “Restrict” feature gives you more control over who can talk to you. Image credit: Instagram
Earlier this year, Meta introduced new restrictions that prevented users over 18 from messaging teenagers who didn't follow them, and in April, the company introduced the ability to blur nudity in Instagram DMs for teenagers.
This is a “good faith” move by Meta, which has faced intense scrutiny in several regions over teen safety. Last October, more than 40 US states sued Meta, alleging that the company's product design is affecting children's mental health. Earlier this month, the European Union launched an investigation into Facebook and Instagram over their addictive design and negative impact on minors' mental health.