In January, chief executives of the top social media companies went before Congress to answer questions about online child exploitation.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, turned around during the hearing to apologize to families who had shown up holding pictures of their children, some they say died because of predatory behavior online.
Leaders of big tech, including Zuckerberg, argued that protective measures have been instituted on their platforms.
Still, states across the country are attempting to pass their own laws to protect kids online. Many of the measures are being blocked by lawsuits challenging their constitutionality.
As the fight continues in Congress, major social media platforms continue to roll out parental controls to assist parents in monitoring their children’s online lives. Here’s a look at some of those platforms and what parents can do right now.
Instagram parental controls
Instagram rolled out multiple control features in 2023, but none of those features monitors as closely as a shared account.
Instagram gives families the option to create a “supervised account” in Family Center for a child between the ages of 13 and 17. For this to work, either the teen or parent needs to send out an invite for supervision. Once accepted, the following things can be controlled:
- Time on Instagram – A parent can control how long their child is on the app and/or see how long they spent on it for the day.
- Breaks – A parents can schedule breaks, choosing exact days and hours…
