Image: Meta
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has announced a new feature that will help users protect themselves from unwanted messages from strangers on its messaging platforms, Messenger and Instagram. The feature will require people who are not connected with a user to send a text-only invitation to chat, and they can only send one at a time. Users won’t be able to send another one until the recipient accepts or declines.
The feature aims to prevent harassment and abuse from unknown people, especially adults who may target teens. The invitations are also limited to text only, so users won’t receive unsolicited photos, videos, voice messages, or calls from strangers. Meta said the feature will give its teen users more control over who can contact them and what they can see. This joins the new parental supervision hub Meta introduced for its platforms.