Meta is changing what teens see when they use Instagram and Facebook. On Tuesday, the firm stated that it will begin suppressing certain sorts of content on both applications, as well as restricting specific search keywords on Instagram. These modifications apply to all minors under the age of 18.

Highlights: 

• Content Suppression and Keyword Restrictions for Minors
• Legal and Advocacy Pressure on Meta
• Challenges in Age Verification

"Now, when people search for terms related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, we'll start hiding these related results and will direct them to expert resources for help," Meta said in a blog post.

Meta is facing dozens of state lawsuits, possible federal legislation, and rising pressure from child safety advocacy groups to make its social networks safer for children.

According to Meta, it removes or limits suggestions of certain types of posts for all users, such as nudity and narcotics for sale. The business claims it will now prevent adolescents from seeing much of this content, even if it is uploaded by a friend or someone they follow.

According to Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and the author of the book Generations, this is a step in the right direction, but it's still difficult to police who is genuinely a teen on Facebook and Instagram.

Twenge, who has advised lawmakers in their lawsuits against Meta, claims that kids are more likely to suffer from depression, bad body image issues, and bullying as a result of social media. According to her research, kids who use social media heavily are roughly twice as likely as light users to be depressed or suicidal.

"There's clearly a relationship with spending too much time on social media and then these negative outcomes," Twenge said.

A Meta representative agreed that people on Facebook and Instagram sometimes fake their ages. According to her, the corporation is investing in age verification methods and technologies that can detect when individuals are lying about their age.

Last May, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning about the dangers of social media for children. He claimed that technology was contributing to a nationwide youth mental health problem.

In October, a group of more than 40 states sued Meta, accusing it of creating its social network tools to be addictive. Their cases are based on information provided by Facebook whistleblowers Arturo Bejar and Frances Haugen.

In November, Bejar testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that Meta has failed to make its platform safer for children despite understanding the harm it does. His testimony came two years after the Facebook Papers, in which Haugen outlined identical conclusions.