Meta unveils enhanced safety tools for Nigerian teens, parents

Technology giant Meta has introduced enhanced online safety features for Nigerian teenagers and parents, as part of efforts to promote digital well-being and create safer online experiences for young people across the country.

The company unveiled the new safety initiatives at the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit held in Abuja in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

The summit brought together government officials, educators, parents, civil society organisations, youth leaders and content creators to discuss digital wellbeing priorities and strengthen partnerships aimed at protecting young people online.

At the centre of Meta’s latest intervention are its Teen Accounts, a redesigned experience across its social media platforms specifically tailored for teenagers and equipped with built-in protections to address growing concerns about children’s safety online.

Speaking at the summit, Meta’s Head of Safety Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Sylvia Musalagani, said the company remains committed to providing age-appropriate and secure digital experiences for teenagers.

“At Meta, our goal is to provide teens with safe, age-appropriate online experiences, and events like the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit reflect our commitment to promoting safer and more positive digital experiences for teens.

“With products such as Teen Accounts, Meta is putting the right protections in place so teens can explore their interests and express their creativity in a safe, age-appropriate space. We will continue to build the safety features and tools that families need to support young people online,” she said.

Under the Teen Accounts framework, all users identified as teenagers are automatically placed under stricter privacy settings, including private accounts, the highest level of messaging restrictions, limitations on sensitive content, restrictions on who can tag or mention them, daily time reminders after 60 minutes of use, and an automatic sleep mode between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Teenagers below the age of 16 would require parental approval before making any changes that could weaken these safety settings.

The initiative also introduces enhanced parental supervision tools, enabling parents to monitor their children’s online activities more effectively. Parents can now receive notifications whenever their teens report harmful content, gain insights into who their children communicate with online, set daily screen time limits, schedule breaks and monitor age-appropriate content preferences.

Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described online child safety as a shared responsibility among parents, technology firms and government institutions.

“Children cannot navigate the complexities of the online world without informed adults guiding them because safety begins with parents. Safety is a shared tripartite responsibility between parents, technological industries and government,” she said.

Similarly, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, commended Meta for promoting digital safety and urged the company to make its educational materials and tools more accessible to young people across Nigeria.

“We believe that keeping young people safe online is a shared responsibility. Government, technology companies, schools, parents, social organisations, community groups and young people themselves all have a role to play,” he said.

The summit also featured a Parents Learn and Brunch session, panel discussions and stakeholder engagements aimed at improving digital literacy and promoting collective action toward creating a safer internet ecosystem for Nigerian youths.

Industry experts note that as internet penetration and social media adoption continue to rise among young Nigerians, initiatives that strengthen digital literacy and online protection are becoming increasingly critical to safeguarding the country’s next generation of digital citizens.