Facebook Introduces New Restrictions Around Advertising To Minors Amid Slew Of Safety Measures

Facebook Introduces New Restrictions Around Advertising To Minors Amid Slew Of Safety Measures
B&T Magazine
Edited by B&T Magazine
SHARE
THIS



Facebook has introduced new privacy measures across its products after concerns surrounding youth safety.

One of the measures is limiting how advertisers reach people under the age of 18 on Instagram. Now, advertisers on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger will only be able to target people under the age of 18 with ads based on their gender, age and location – not on activity on other apps or sites, or on their interests.

In the announcement on the Instagram blog, the company wrote, “we’ve heard from youth advocates that young people may not be well equipped to make these decision [about controlling the ads they see].”

“We agree with them, which is why we’re taking a more precautionary approach in how advertisers can reach young people with ads.”

Now, when users turn 18, they will be notified about the targeting options advertisers can use to reach them, and how users can customise the ads they see.

The other core changes include defaulting users aged under 16 or under 18, depending on country, to private Instagram accounts automatically. Instagram says this is they best way to prevent children “hearing from adults they don’t know, or that they don’t want to hear from”.

If child users want to then make their account public, Instagram will show them a notification extolling the benefits of the private account, but allow them to switch to public.

David Kleeman, senior vice presidents, global trends at Dubit said, “while most platforms have set their minimum age for participation at 13, there’s no on/off switch that makes someone ready to be a fully media-literate participant on that birthday.”

“Defaulting accounts to private for under-16s encourages young people to develop comfort, confidence and capability as digital citizens during their younger years and help them develop habits to last a lifetime.”

The final major change centers on stopping unwanted contact from adults. According to Instagram, they have created new tech which allows them to track down accounts that have shown “potentially suspicious behaviour” and block those accounts from interacting with young people.

They define that behaviour as accounts that have been recently blocked or reported by a young person. When Instagram has identified those adults, they will not see minors accounts in their suggested for you, explore, or reels tabs. They also won’t be able to follow minors if they search from them by username, leave comments on posts, or see comments from minors on other posts.

Currently, Instagram is making these changes in Australia, the US, UK, Japan and France, with plans for expansion.

According to a seperate blog on the Facebook site, the foundation of the approach they are using regarding age is artificial intelligence. While Facebook has a minimum age of 13, users can simply lie when they sign up and make an account.

In the post, they argued that collecting ID – one widely proposed solution – has “significant limitations”.

Alternatively, Facebook says it has created tech that will allow them to estimate someone’s age: namely, if they are above or below 18. It says it is also in discussions with the wider tech industry for ways to “work together to share information in privacy-preserving ways that helps apps establish whether people are over a specific age.”

Finally, Facebook is also trying to disincentivise people under 13 from lying about their age. According to the blog, Facebook is developing experiences specifically designed for under 13 year olds, such as the recently announced ‘Instagram from tweens’.

Josh Machin, head of policy at Facebook Australia said, “we want young people to enjoy using Instagram while making sure we have robust privacy and safety features in place to protect them. That’s why we’re launching these new updates for our global community today, and we’ll continue developing tools that protect teens and our entire community.”

“Privacy is one of our top priorities, and we’ll continue listening to young people, their parents, lawmakers and industry experts to build tools and experiences that safeguard everyone on our platforms.”

Please login with linkedin to comment

advertising to minors age restrictions Facebook Facebook Advertising Instagram Instagram advertising

Latest News

Vision6 Launches First-Ever National Brand Campaign “Simply Reliable”
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns

Vision6 Launches First-Ever National Brand Campaign “Simply Reliable”

Australian owned and operated email and SMS marketing software company, Vision6, announced the launch of its first-ever national brand campaign and new brand platform “Simply Reliable”. Founded in 2001, Vision6 was one of the first email marketing software providers in Australia and has since been relied upon by thousands of Aussie businesses and organisations for […]

JCDecaux New Zealand Grows Its Team To Lead Street Furniture Tender
  • Media

JCDecaux New Zealand Grows Its Team To Lead Street Furniture Tender

Out-of-Home media company JCDecaux New Zealand has appointed business growth specialist Adam McGregor in preparation for its bid to win upcoming local government street furniture tenders across the country. With contracts for the provision of street furniture including bus shelters across New Zealand up for renewal from late 2022, they collectively represent the biggest advertising […]

ABC iview Goes Virtual With Fetch TV
  • Media

ABC iview Goes Virtual With Fetch TV

Fetch TV has announced that ABC iview will soon be available as a dedicated Virtual Playlist Channel on the Fetch platform. Virtual Playlist Channels (VPCs) were developed by Fetch to promote content discovery, and to provide a clear bridge between the traditional world of linear TV and the growing availability of on demand content via […]

Jackie Gillies Joins The Acast Creator Network
  • Media

Jackie Gillies Joins The Acast Creator Network

Jackie Gillies, businesswoman, psychic medium and cast member of The Real Housewives of Melbourne is bringing her sassy, inspirational and adventurous spirit to her new podcast Shine It Up, With Jackie Gillies, which launches today via Acast. Hosted and distributed by the creator-first podcast company Acast, the show will offer listeners inspiration and motivation to […]

Hungry Vax, Jabstar, JAB Hi-Fi: Aussie Designers Give Iconic Logos A Pro-Vax Revamp
  • Media
  • Technology

Hungry Vax, Jabstar, JAB Hi-Fi: Aussie Designers Give Iconic Logos A Pro-Vax Revamp

Crowdsourcing platforms DesignCrowd and BrandCrowd are promoting vaccination efforts in a unique way, launching a logo redesign contest among their networks of designers. The initiative saw iconic Australian brands such as Hungry Jack’s, Jetstar, JB Hi-Fi, and Bunnings undergo a redesign.  “We thought it would be fun to see some other iconic Australian brands back […]

Harper’s Bazaar Australia Appoints Jillian Davison As Editor In Chief
  • Media

Harper’s Bazaar Australia Appoints Jillian Davison As Editor In Chief

Jillian Davison has been named editor-in-chief of the recently relaunched Harper’s BAZAAR Australia. She will oversee all content, development and creative direction across the iconic magazine’s digital and brand platforms. Davison (pictured) succeeds Eugenie Kelly, who recently stepped down to pursue other opportunities. The announcement was made by Maureen Jordan, publisher of Harper’s BAZAAR Australia […]

72andSunny Unveils First Campaign For Plant-Based Drink Brand Australia’s Own
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns

72andSunny Unveils First Campaign For Plant-Based Drink Brand Australia’s Own

Freedom Foods and 72andSunny Sydney have launched the first advertising campaign for Australia’s Own range of plant-based beverages. The campaign introduces a new visual world and identity for the brand and captures the healthy, positive feeling you get when spending time in nature and when consuming Australia’s Own certified-organic, plant-based beverages. As well as featuring […]