On Tuesday, Instagram revealed a new partnership program designed to accelerate the moderation of reports submitted by verified school accounts. This initiative is available to all middle and high schools within the United States and enables these institutions to directly report posts or student accounts that may breach the app’s guidelines. Such reports are given priority for review, and schools will receive notifications about any actions taken.
The purpose of this program is to assist educators in addressing potential safety concerns among teens, including incidents of bullying, in a more direct manner. Schools that participate in the program will display a “school partner” banner on their profiles to indicate their involvement. Moreover, Instagram will provide educational resources containing tips for the safe use of the app to educators, parents, guardians, and students.
Over the past year, Instagram has piloted this program with 60 schools and collaborated with the International Society for Technology in Education and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ISTE+ASCD) to develop the initiative. Other middle and high schools in the U.S. have the opportunity to join the program’s waitlist.
The introduction of this program takes place amidst the advancement of the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) by senators, a proposal designed to prohibit social media access for children under the age of 13. In February, the Senate Committee on Commerce approved this bill. The U.S. Senate has also passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
In addition to this new program, Instagram has implemented other measures focused on online safety. For example, the platform has introduced teen accounts for users under 16, which are defaulted to private and come with restrictions on messaging, parental controls, and other limitations.