As South Africa marks Youth Month and reflects on the role young people play in shaping the country’s future, Meta yesterday brought together parents, educators, creators, youth advocates and industry stakeholders at the Youth Online Safety Summit at the Venue Greenpark in Sandton, to discuss how technology can help create safer and more positive online experiences for teens while easing the burden on busy parents by giving them helpful tools to supervise their teens online.
The summit highlighted Meta’s ongoing efforts to support young people and their families through built-in protections, parental supervision tools and digital literacy resources designed to help teens navigate the digital world safely and confidently.
“Meta wants to ease the burden on busy parents by providing helpful tools to supervise their teens online, while creating positive and protected online spaces where young people can connect with friends, learn and discover new opportunities,” said Sylvia Musalagani, Head of Safety Policy, Africa, Middle East and Turkey at Meta.
A comprehensive approach to teen online safety
At the heart of Meta’s approach are Teen Accounts, a reimagined experience across Meta’s apps designed specifically for teens. Teen Accounts include built-in protections that address parents’ concerns by limiting unwanted contact, promoting age-appropriate experiences and encouraging healthier digital habits.
Teen Accounts automatically place teens under 18 into protective settings, including private accounts, strict messaging controls, sensitive content restrictions, limited interactions from strangers, daily time reminders and overnight sleep mode features. Teens under 16 cannot turn these settings off without parental approval.
Meta has also introduced enhanced parental supervision tools that provide parents with greater visibility into their teens’ online experiences. These tools allow parents to receive notifications when their teen reports content, view who their teen has been communicating with, set daily time limits, schedule breaks from the app and better understand the topics their teen is engaging with online.
Supporting parents, teens and educators
Meta emphasised that creating safer online experiences requires more than platform protections alone. Through Family Center, parents and guardians can access supervision tools, expert guidance and educational resources designed to help them have meaningful conversations with teens about social media and online safety.
Family Center serves as a central hub where parents can manage supervision settings and access articles, videos and expert advice on navigating digital life with young people. In addition, Meta continues to invest in digital literacy resources through initiatives such as the Youth Portal and other educational programmes that help young people develop the skills needed to engage online responsibly.
A collective responsibility
Throughout the summit, one message remained clear: keeping young people safe online is a shared responsibility.
Bringing together technology companies, parents, educators, policymakers, youth leaders and civil society organisations, the summit explored how collaboration can help build safer digital environments while empowering young people to make the most of the opportunities technology provides.
“One of the key messages I hope young people take away from today’s discussion is that online safety is a shared responsibility. While organisations such as the Film and Publication Board, government, parents, educators and technology platforms all have a role to play, young people themselves also have a responsibility to make informed decisions online. We have strong frameworks in place, including the Films and Publications Act and the South African Constitution, to help protect users in digital spaces. However, the conversations we’ve had here today shouldn’t end at this summit. We encourage everyone to take these discussions back to their homes, schools and communities so that together we can build a safer online environment for all.” – Eugene Mashapa, Senior Researcher, Film and Publication Board
The discussion also highlighted the importance of balancing protection with empowerment, ensuring that young people are equipped not only with safety tools but also with the knowledge and digital skills needed to thrive in an increasingly connected world.
For more information on Teen Accounts, Family Center and Meta’s youth safety resources, visit Meta’s Family Center
