TW: Pedophiles, Sexual Offenders

In order to curb predatory online behavior commonly committed by pedophiles and potential sex offenders, Instagram is introducing a new feature that will impose a stern restriction on adults attempting to make contact with underaged minors on the app. 

source: Instagram

New updates include:

• Adults users with suspicious activities (like sending multiple requests to users under 18) will be barred from viewing or finding teen accounts

• Adult users will not be allowed to send a DM to minors who are not mutually following them

• Underaged users will receive safety prompts when interacting with adults with "potentially suspicious behavior", giving them options to instantly report or block the account

• Instagram will make it harder for minors to lie about their age upon signing up using AI and machine learning technology

• Minors will receive notifications to lock their account should they choose to make them public and will receive regular reminders to review their privacy settings

source: Instagram 

It's about damn time that the internet is made safer to use by teens and minors. They need to unlearn the perception that gaining the attention of an older adult is not a compliment and these restrictions should bring forth the awareness of identifying online predatorial behaviors thus, preventing them from continuing with their modus operandi. 

source: Financial Times

Can TikTok do this too, next?