Instagram now allows teens to limit interactions to their “Close Friends” group to combat bullying

In an effort to combat harassment on its platform, Instagram announced Thursday that it was expanding the reach of its “Boundaries” tool specifically aimed at teens, which would allow them to restrict unwanted interactions with people. Once the feature is enabled, teens will only be able to see comments, messages, story replies, tags and mentions from their Close Friends group, and interactions from other accounts will be disabled.

The company initially launched the Limits feature as a test in 2021 after English footballers Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were harassed online following the England team's defeat to Italy in the World Cup final. 'Euro 2020. Anyone can use Limits now, although it only lets you restrict interactions with people you follow, in addition to long-time followers.

The feature has now been tailored to teens with the default “Close Friends” setting, and Instagram says it's specifically intended to protect people from bullying and harassment. Accounts that aren't in a person's Close Friends group can still interact with them, but their activity won't appear in the feed.

Alternatively, teens can limit interactions with recent followers – accounts that started following them within the last week or accounts they don't follow.

Additionally, the company is adding a new feature to its “Restrict” feature that lets you limit interactions from specific accounts without blocking them. Instagram will hide all comments from restricted accounts and they will not be able to tag or mention you.

Earlier this year, Meta implemented new restrictions preventing anyone over 18 from messaging teens who don't follow them. In April, the company introduced a feature that would blur nudity in Instagram DMs aimed at teens.

This is a “good faith” decision by Meta, which is facing increased scrutiny regarding teen safety in several regions. Last October, more than 40 U.S. states sued Meta, alleging that its product design impacted children's mental health. Earlier this month, the European Union opened an investigation against Facebook and Instagram for their addictive design and negative impact on the mental health of minors.