As South Africa marks Youth Month, Meta has unveiled new Teen Accounts and parental supervision tools at its Youth Online Safety Summit, pledging to “ease the burden on busy parents” and to create safer, more positive online spaces for young people.

South African youth face massive digital vulnerabilities, with 79% of teens experiencing at least one significant online risk over the past year.

While the country has recently rejected strict social media bans for minors like those implemented in Australia and the UK, experts warn that cyberbullying (affecting 45% of teens), hate speech (50%), and online fraud (44%) remain pervasive threats in local digital spaces.

Supporting young people

During the summit, Meta highlighted 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.

Teen accounts

Teen Accounts automatically place users under 18 into protective settings – including private profiles, strict messaging controls, sensitive content filters, time reminders and overnight sleep mode – with teens under 16 unable to disable these protections without parental approval.

Parents are also given greater oversight through new supervision tools that allow them to set daily limits, schedule breaks, and receive alerts when their teen reports content.

Meta said its Family Centre serves as a hub for guidance, expert resources and digital literacy programmes to help families navigate online life.

Online safety

The summit stressed that online safety is a shared responsibility.

“One of the key messages I hope young people take away is that online safety is a shared responsibility,” said Eugene Mashapa of the Film and Publication Board.

“Organisations, government, parents, educators and technology platforms all have a role to play, but young people themselves also have a responsibility to make informed decisions online.”

Balance and protection

Mashapa added that the conversations 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.”

The discussion also highlighted the need to balance protection with empowerment, ensuring teens are equipped not only with safety tools but also with the digital skills to thrive in an increasingly connected world.