Instagram plans to add ‘take a break’ feature to keep its younger users away from harmful content

The announcement arrived days after an ex-Facebook employee turned whistleblower revealed allegations about Facebook deliberately harming its younger users.

The photo-sharing app will launch a new feature to push teenagers away from harmful content and persuade them to ‘take a break’ to make Instagram a safe platform for younger users. According to a news report by Reuters, the latest features were declared by Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg.

The announcement arrived days after an ex-Facebook employee turned whistleblower revealed allegations about Facebook deliberately harming its younger users.

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Clegg reported to CNN, “We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenager is looking at the same content over and over again, and it’s content which may not be conducive to their well-being, we will nudge them to look at other content.”

Moreover, he stated that the firm is working on a feature that will remind teenagers to take a break from the social media platform. However, the company did not reveal a specific date for the rolling out of new features. Earlier this month, Instagram suspended the launching of Instagram kids, made for users aged 13 and below, after receiving criticism from child safety advocates.

Meantime, Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who was once a Facebook employee, has testified before the Senate committee about her experiences at Facebook. She pushed Congress to take action against the company for supposedly producing a toxic environment for teens on Instagram.