{"id":249,"date":"2026-06-30T21:34:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=249"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:34:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:34:41","slug":"more-than-half-of-social-media-child-safety-features-arent-working-as-advertised-new-research-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=249","title":{"rendered":"More than half of social media child safety features aren\u2019t working as advertised, new research finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New York<\/span>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span> <\/cite>Social media giants have for years touted their growing slate of safety tools and protections as proof that they prioritize young users\u2019 wellbeing.<\/p>\n

But more than half of those protections don\u2019t work as advertised, new research<\/a> finds.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the Cybersafety Research Center tested 86 youth safety features across TikTok, Instagram, Snap and YouTube and examined whether they worked as described and whether children could realistically find and use them. Only 35 of those features \u2014 just over 40 percent \u2014 successfully met both criteria.<\/p>\n

The companies largely disputed the report\u2019s findings, arguing that their features work as intended or that the tests did not represent typical use of the platforms by kids and teens.<\/p>\n

YouTube and Instagram parent company Meta<\/a> were also found liable<\/a> this year of intentionally addicting and harming young people. All four companies face thousands of lawsuits with similar claims, which they have disputed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a parent, you should know that we have found systemic issues with the design and implementation of many of these features,\u201d the report, published Monday, states. To the Cybersafety Research Center, a joint initiative from New York University and Northeastern University, the findings show social media harms to kids \u201care not hypothetical, and that when they do occur the consequences can be irreversible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The findings call into question social media companies\u2019 claims that heavy investments in new tools and features have made their platforms safe for young people. And they come amid a renewed push<\/a> for more federal regulation of social media, with executives from some of the top firms expected to be called to testify on Capitol Hill again this summer.<\/p>\n

Researchers created two sets of test accounts: those with birthdates associated with minors to test child safety features, and adult accounts ages 25 and older to test restrictions on interactions with children. They tested whether a young person using the platforms normally would encounter the features, whether a teen attempting to circumvent the features would succeed and whether an adult user could bypass restrictions on messaging minors.<\/p>\n

Features were categorized as failures if they were: buried in settings and hard to find, broken because they did not function to prevent harm as advertised, or both. Nine features were also labeled as \u201cmissing\u201d because researchers couldn\u2019t trigger them even when they tried. For example, comments between teen accounts on Instagram that included bullying language \u2014 like curse words and \u201cno body (sic) likes you\u201d \u2014 did not trigger the platform\u2019s advertised prompt for the user to rethink their comment.<\/p>\n

Instagram said the \u201cpause to rethink\u201d prompt is not designed to appear if the user who made the post and the user commenting follow each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety features, in order to be effective, need to be on by default or easy to activate, be resilient to normal teenager use, and should demonstrably protect against harm,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The report did not look at parental control features, reviewing only tools that would apply directly to or can be turned on by kids and teens. The platforms say parental controls also contribute to youth safety and make it harder for kids and teens to bypass time restrictions and other features.<\/p>\n

The number of features available to be tested varied by platform, with Instagram having the most at 29. The feature failure rates by platform were: Snapchat 73 percent, Instagram 66 percent, YouTube 55 percent and TikTok 50 percent.<\/p>\n

All four platforms say they block children from searching for dangerous content and instead direct them to support resources. But researchers found they fell short of doing so in practice.<\/p>\n

After a TikTok test account registered to a minor searched for material about disordered eating and self-harm, the app\u2019s search function then suggested terms such as \u201chow to pretend to eat your food\u201d and \u201crazor blade skin,\u201d according to the report. As a child test account began typing \u201ceating disorder\u201d into Instagram\u2019s search bar, the app automatically offered alternate search terms with deliberate misspellings that could skirt content restrictions. Misspellings also worked to circumvent restrictions on Snapchat.<\/p>\n

A TikTok spokesperson said the app\u2019s teen accounts settings \u201ccome with over 50 preset safety features and settings automatically turned on, with additional choices for parents through our easy-to-use Family Pairing tool. Our internal review confirms these features are working as intended, and we welcome the opportunity to help the authors of this report better understand how our app works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers rated YouTube\u2019s search content restrictions as a success. But they said YouTube\u2019s efforts to redirect young users to resources failed because a child user could click away from the restricted screen and continue to view content they\u2019d searched for. YouTube says that if a teen dismisses that resource direction screen, they will still only see content rated as safe for their age group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spent over a decade building industry-leading parental controls, which is why 84 percent of parents who have used YouTube supervised account tools said they agree that these tools give them confidence that their child is accessing a safer and more controlled digital environment,\u201d a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement about the report. \u201cWe will continue to strengthen these protections and innovate to protect families who use YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers also raised questions about Snapchat and Instagram\u2019s efforts to block adult strangers from messaging with young users. On Snapchat, researchers using an adult test account said they were able to find and message a child account with no restrictions. The child account \u201creceived the friend request and upon accepting it was able to view the history of messages that the adult had sent them with no warnings,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

On Instagram, researchers found the app successfully prevented adults who a child didn\u2019t follow from initiating messaging conversations with that child. But they argued the protection is \u201ccompromised\u201d because a child could message an adult they don\u2019t follow and the adult can then respond \u2014 with no restrictions or warnings.<\/p>\n

The report points to a 2021 press release<\/a> in Meta which says that Instagram restricts adults from starting private messages with teens who don\u2019t follow them. \u201cThe adult is able to send messages to a child unrestricted after contact has been initiated, even if the child does not follow them back,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

Meta told CNN a teen messaging an adult who does not follow them indicates the young person wants to connect and the feature is working as intended.<\/p>\n

The researchers say they alerted Instagram and Snapchat to the child messaging concerns and other \u201ccritical vulnerabilities\u201d before releasing the report.<\/p>\n

A Snapchat spokesperson told CNN the company cares \u201cdeeply about the safety, privacy, and well-being of all Snapchatters, and our teams have worked for years to build safeguards, launch safety tutorials, and partner with experts \u2026 we are continually evaluating and strengthening our protections.\u201d The spokesperson added that many of the report\u2019s findings were based on \u201cintentionally taking actions to bypass protections that are not representative of the typical user experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the platforms also offer time limits or \u201ctake a break\u201d reminders to prevent kids from endlessly scrolling. But on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, the prompt telling users to take a break includes an option to \u201csnooze\u201d the reminder and return to the feed. Meta and YouTube said the feature works as intended and added that time limits set up via parental controls could not be dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report is fundamentally flawed and demonstrates a basic misunderstanding of how our tools work,\u201d a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe authors include vague claims that our features are broken but, in the vast majority of cases, either misrepresent those features or fail to provide any examples or evidence. The reality is that with Teen Accounts, teens are seeing less sensitive content, experiencing less unwanted contact, and spending less time on Instagram at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta argued that some of the report\u2019s findings about \u201cmissing\u201d features may have simply been because they did not encounter issues that would have triggered the tools. For example, researchers said they did not see any \u201csensitive content\u201d warning screens on potentially problematic posts; Meta said no sensitive content may have appeared in their feeds.<\/p>\n

Some features were successful. For example, if users under the age of 13 try to sign up for a TikTok account, they\u2019re automatically directed into a \u201cTikTok for Younger Users\u201d experience that is view-only and removes potentially dangerous app features, such as search and messaging. That means kids don\u2019t have an opportunity to try to sign up again with a fake, older birthdate on that device.<\/p>\n

And minor accounts automatically default to private settings on Instagram, which researchers said, \u201ccould encourage users to maintain private accounts without requiring the user to make an informed decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those successes prove that it is possible to design effective safety youth features, the researchers said. Companies should create safer online platforms by trying to reduce overall risk, they wrote, \u201crather than filtering a dangerous experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story has been updated with additional information.<\/em><\/p>\n

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