Instagram Launches a Parents Guide in Malayalam

KOCHI:
Furthering the commitment to the safety of young people in India, Instagram today launched a Parents Guide in Malayalam for people across Kerala to learn from. The Guide is aimed at helping young people be safe, by informing parents about all the safety features that exist on the platform. 

The Parents Guide is a resource from Instagram, available across many countries, to provide parents with a better understanding of the changing digital landscape. It acts as a conversation starter with their children, as it provides information about tools that exist to keep their child safe on Instagram. The Guide has inputs from key organisations working actively on the rights and safety of children – Center for Social Research, CyberPeace Foundation, Aarambh India Initiative, Young Leaders for Activity Citizenship, It’s Ok To Talk and Suicide Prevention India Foundation. 

The Guide includes information on all the new safety features on Instagram, such as ‘DM reachability controls’, which gives creator and business accounts the control to choose who can message them on Instagram and who can add them to groups on Instagram Direct. Another example is ‘Bulk comment management’, which gives people the option to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments. There are others too like ‘Restrict’, which allows your child to protect their account from unwanted interactions without making a bully aware.

Tara Bedi, Public Policy and Community Outreach Manager for Instagram in India, said, “As we spend more time online, especially young people, it is important for parents to be well informed about the products and features that are used by their children. This understanding can help parents feel more comfortable with their children using it to showcase their creativity, because they would know the safety features available to them.  This is what we’re aiming to accomplish with the Parents Guide for Instagram.” 

This Guide from Instagram is another step towards fostering a safe and supportive environment on the platform. Recently, Instagram has also announced several other changes to enhance the safety of young people – one, that everyone who is under 16 years old will be defaulted into a private account when they join Instagram, and two, a new feature ‘Security Checkup’, which will guide people whose accounts may have been hacked, through the steps needed to secure them.