The company hopes to build in tools from the start, drawing on lessons pulled from controversies with its other apps.
Hoping to avoid the child-wellbeing controversies that have dogged Instagram, Meta will roll out several features meant to increase safety for pre-teens in its virtual-reality realm. In addition, it will add to existing ones on Instagram, intending to tamp down on the debate about the app’s effects on kids.
Through the software controlling Meta’s Quest VR headset, parents will be able to approve or deny purchases, block apps, view the apps a teen user owns and receive notifications about any purchases. The parental controls, which activate only when a teen has linked an account to a parent’s, also allow parents to view a child’s screentime, see who the child has added as a friend and block content from a PC to the VR headset.
“We're adding in more in-app interventions to encourage teens to have more positive experiences online with a diversity of content,” says Vaishnavi J, Meta’s head of youth wellbeing. “And to also just be more mindful about the time that they're spending online.”