Half of social media child safety features don't work, report claims

The study examines safety features found on Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok and You Tube.

Anna Barclay/Getty Images. A study from researchers at New York University and Northeastern University is claiming that at least half of the safety features meant to protect children on social media platforms don't deliver on their promises. The study, published by Heat Initiative and Cybersafety Research Center, tested 86 features across Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok and You Tube. According to the analysis, each of the social media platforms had a failure rate of at least 50 percent when it came to its advertised protective features, like those that prevent adults from messaging children or stop underage accounts from accessing harmful content.

In the study, researchers created dummy accounts to mimic children of various ages, in addition to some adult accounts. The study examined three different scenarios: one where a child was using the social media platform naturally; another where a teen was trying to circumvent a safety feature; and a final case where a "malicious adult actor" would try to bypass the protection features of a separate teen account. Of the many safety features tested which were intended to be turned on by children themselves, the study considered it a failure if: the feature was either so difficult to find within various privacy setting menus as to make real-world use unlikely; or if it did not actually do what it described; or if the feature was completely missing from the platform.