Status: 11.10.2021 1:40 p.m.
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In order to better protect children on its own platforms, Facebook has introduced new control functions. The company is responding to the accusations of the whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, presented the new features on two US talk shows to better protect underage users. On the US broadcasters CNN and ABC, he said that they wanted to remind young people with virtual “nudges” how long they had been using the service and to encourage them to take a break. Minors should also be made aware of content that they view several times and that is classified as inappropriate.
The company also wants to create better control options for parents: An optional feature is to be created with which they can keep an eye on their children’s online behavior. Clegg said on CNN that his company is constantly trying to improve its offerings and products: “We cannot wave a magic wand to make everyone’s life perfect.” Nevertheless, the efforts are enormous to make the platform more secure.
Critics doubt its effectiveness
However, critics consider the announcement to be very vague and doubt the efficiency of such new features. “There are tremendous reasons to be skeptical,” said Josh Golin of the organization Fair Play. The organization is researching marketing methods with an eye to the effects on children. One of the reasons is therefore that children often use accounts that their parents do not even know. Golin also doubts whether children can actually be induced to take a break by the “nudges”. Facebook must show how exactly it wants to implement these plans.
With the new functions, Facebook is responding to the serious allegations that whistleblower Frances Haugen has made against the company before the US Senate. She accused the company of knowing the damage Instagram was doing to some young people. Out of greed for profit, however, the company refrains from making changes that could mitigate the negative consequences.
For example, the company had researched how the use of the Instagram photo platform affects girls who are dissatisfied with their own bodies. The result of the internal study: every third user felt worse when she used all the perfect model and fitness influencer accounts on Instagram. But the girls continued to use Instagram. Facebook “benefits from the fact that they endanger our security,” said Haugen.
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