Instagram, a social networking site (SNS) widely used by home-dwelling teens, has decided ..

Instagram, a social networking service (SNS) widely used by domestic teenagers, has decided to keep the accounts of teenage users private. Given the policies and bills that restrict the use of SNS by minors in countries around the world, they have been late to self-regulate. However, YouTube, the SNS that Koreans have been using the longest, is still passive in protecting its youth. The government needs strict sanctions against big tech companies that turn a blind eye to social responsibility in the pursuit of profit.

The “Instagram Self-Regulation Plan” announced by Meta, a global SNS company, is intended to protect adolescents from crime. You can follow a teenager’s account by making it private or only sending and receiving messages with someone you are already connected to. This is to prevent online harassment where strangers send messages for criminal purposes such as sexual exploitation, or an unknown number of people send messages indiscriminately. However, teenagers aged 16 to 17 can voluntarily make their accounts public and there is a restriction in that it is difficult to block a sign-up as a member by entering a false date of birth. Major overseas countries are rushing to implement policies to protect young people from the harmful effects of SNS. In France, parental consent is required for membership for children under 15, and parents can block their children’s accounts. In the United States, each state can ban SNS accounts under a certain age or only use them with parental consent. A bill was recently introduced in Korea to limit the usage time of social networking sites for teenagers under the age of 16.

SNS is a recommendation algorithm created by analyzing user data, and in fact it poisons adolescents. This is because clicks and usage times lead to profit. Adolescents who have been exposed to harmful content such as sexual content and violence for a long time have difficulty maintaining their daily lives and suffer from depression. YouTube’s priority is to engage in self-regulation, but the government should also take swift measures to protect young SNS.