Instagram launches parents guide for India

Instagram on Monday launched a Parents Guide for India ahead of Safer Internet Day.

The Parents Guide is a resource from Instagram, available across many countries. It is meant to help young users be safe by informing parents about all the safety features that exist on the platform.

It provides parents with information about tools that exist to keep their child safe on the social media platform.

The 2021 version of the Guide has inputs from key organisations working actively on the rights and safety of children - Center for Social Research, Cyber Peace Foundation, Aarambh India Initiative, Young Leaders for Activity Citizenship, It’s Ok To Talk and Suicide Prevention India Foundation, Instagram said.

The resource includes information on all the new updates on the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform. For instance, it considers the ‘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. Other examples include features such as ‘Support Requests’ and ‘Emails from Instagram.’

Tara Bedi, Public Policy and Community Outreach Manager for Instagram in India, said, “As the internet permeates into our lives, especially the lives of young people, parents want to be adequately equipped with the evolving digital landscape. They want to understand how a platform works and feel comfortable with their children leveraging its creative expression opportunities while knowing the safety tools available to them that enable that expression in a supportive environment. This is what we’re aiming to provide with the 2021 version of the Parents Guide.”

“Our Children are living a very active life online today, and it seems to come naturally to them. Firstly, parents need to accept their child’s online presence. Secondly, they need to provide a safe space where the child feels comfortable enough to share his/her struggles and ask for help/support. Finally, parents need to update themselves in ways they can actually be of help to their children,” said Dr Rajana Kumari, Director of the Center for Social Research.