Young teens still encounter unsafe, adult-connected content on Instagram, a new study shows

Is social media becoming safer for children? Not so much, according to new research that suggests many young people are still experiencing troubling situations and encountering inappropriate content online.

study Reported by Time The magazine reports that 60% of teens between the ages of 13 and 15 encounter unsafe content or spam on Instagram, despite the parent company introducing teen accounts and Your efforts to improve safety on the platformincluded Using artificial intelligence to sort user accounts.

According to the study – whose findings Meta disputes – 40% of young teens who received unsolicited messages on Instagram said those sending the messages seemed to want to start a sexual or romantic relationship with them.

Time magazine reported that the study was completed by two child advocacy groups, Parents worked together The Heat Initiative and was created by Design It for Us, but the link to the report does not appear to be available yet from Time or From the Heat Initiative website.

Emails sent to ParentsTogether and the Heat Initiative were not immediately returned. Meta did not return an email requesting a response to the study.

This study follows A A similar one was published in September Featuring former Meta CEO Arturo Bigar, who strongly criticized child safety on Instagram. The title of this report was “Teen Accounts, Broken Promises: How Instagram Fails to Protect Minors.”

Meta said it was made Changes to direct messaging on its platforms To address child safety.