Instagram has charted new territory by exceeding two billion monthly active users, according to a Tuesday (Dec. 14) report from CNBC.
The social media platform, which is best known for eye-catching photographs and reels, reached the milestone amid controversy. Last week, CEO Adam Mosseri testified before the Senate Commerce subcommittee that he planned to launch a version of the social media platform specifically for children, as PYMNTS reported. The idea behind the youth-focused offering was to give children the ability to use the social media site without worries related to explicit content and age verification.
See also: Instagram CEO Still Wants to Maintain Social Media Site for Younger Children
Ahead of Mosseri’s testimony, Instagram last week announced protocols to enhance privacy and limit content inappropriate for youth, as PYMNTS reported. Mosseri also announced a new “Take a Break” feature designed to cut down on screen time.
By spring 2022, Instagram plans to implement tools for parents to monitor and control how much time children are spending on the app.
Read more: Instagram Moves to Head Off Criticism, Debuting Teen Protections Prior to Senate Hearing
The institution of child protective measures comes on the heels of claims from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Haugen released internal data to journalists and politicians that included a presentation about teens reporting suicidal thoughts, with 13% of British youth and 6% of American youth citing Instagram as the cause.
In response, Facebook, which owns Instagram, said that since September, the company has spent $13 billion on safety and security measures, while more than 40,000 employees work to police the content on the social media giant’s platform, which has 3.5 billion monthly active users.
Facebook also said it has also disabled more than one billion fake accounts and blocks millions more from being created each day.
Relevant news: Are Things Actually Getting Better at Meta?
Instagram reached its milestone of two billion monthly active users soon before Facebook changed its name to Meta.
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