Instagram is now trying to mitigate the problem by introducing a new feature called “take a break”.
Instagram has been previously criticised for having harmful content that’s causing mental health issues in teens.
“We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenagers 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.”
Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg
They are pausing work on the Instagram Kids apps and giving parents optional controls to supervise teens. Instagram are introducing “take a break” feature instead which will simply tell teens to take a break from Instagram or steer them away from harmful content, He added.
Clegg did not reveal a timeline for this feature, but a Facebook spokesperson has told The Verge that the feature is not in testing yet, but it will be soon. This means that we will likely not see it this month, but near the end of the year. Instagram head Adam Mosseri has also said that they are currently “exploring” new features.
