Meta has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting safer digital experiences for young Nigerians through stronger collaboration with government institutions, parents, educators and civil society groups, as concerns over children’s online safety continue to grow alongside increased internet adoption.
The social media giant made the commitment recently at the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit held in Abuja, where stakeholders from across the public and private sectors gathered to discuss strategies for improving digital wellbeing and protecting young people from online risks.
The summit, hosted by Meta in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, focused on strengthening cooperation among policymakers, technology companies, parents, schools and youth leaders to create a safer digital environment for teenagers.
The event also highlighted Meta’s latest youth safety initiatives, including built-in protections across its platforms, enhanced parental supervision features and digital literacy resources designed to help teenagers navigate the internet more safely while giving parents greater oversight of their children’s online activities.
In her address, Sylvia Musalagani, head of Safety Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Meta, said the company remains committed to ensuring that young users have access to age-appropriate digital experiences without compromising opportunities for creativity and self-expression.
“At Meta, our goal is to provide teens with safe, age-appropriate online experiences, and events like the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit reflect our commitment to promoting safer and more positive digital experiences for teens,” Musalagani said.
She noted that Meta’s Teen Accounts have been designed with multiple layers of protection that automatically safeguard younger users while allowing them to explore their interests in a controlled environment.
“We will continue to build the safety features and tools that families need to support young people online,” she added.
According to Meta, Teen Accounts represent a redesigned experience across its applications specifically tailored for teenagers. The accounts automatically activate a range of protective measures, including private account settings, the strictest messaging controls, restrictions on sensitive content, limited interactions with strangers, daily screen time reminders after one hour of use, and sleep mode that mutes notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The company explained that teenagers below the age of 16 require parental approval before any of these safety settings can be relaxed.
Beyond the built-in safeguards for teenagers, Meta said it has expanded parental supervision tools to give parents greater visibility into their children’s online activities.
These features enable parents to receive notifications whenever their teenager reports inappropriate content, monitor who their child has been communicating with, set daily usage limits for Instagram, schedule mandatory breaks from the platform, and oversee the categories of age-appropriate content their teenagers choose to engage with.
Government officials at the summit stressed that safeguarding children online requires coordinated action beyond technology companies alone.
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, described child online protection as one of the Federal Government’s key priorities, particularly as digital platforms become increasingly integrated into the daily lives of young Nigerians.
“Child online safety is one of our central pillars and we are steadfast in our mandate to safeguard the Nigerian child from technology-enabled violence,” she said.
She emphasised that children require guidance from informed adults to safely navigate the digital space, adding that parents, government and technology companies all share responsibility for protecting young users from online harm.
Also speaking at the summit, Ayodele Olawande, minister of Youth Development, said equipping Nigerian youths with digital skills must go hand in hand with protecting them against emerging online threats.
According to him, the objectives of the summit align closely with the ministry’s National Youth Data Protection and Awareness Training Programme, which seeks to improve digital literacy while strengthening awareness of cybersecurity and data privacy issues among young people.
“We believe that keeping young people safe online is a shared responsibility. Government, technology companies, schools, parents, social organisations, community groups, and young people themselves all have a role to play,” Olawande said.
He urged Meta to make the educational materials, digital safety guides and online learning resources developed through the initiative more widely accessible so that young people across the country can benefit beyond participants at the summit.
The Nigeria Youth Safety Summit featured panel discussions involving digital creators, parents, educators and youth advocates who examined practical ways of supporting healthier online habits and promoting responsible use of social media platforms.
A dedicated Parents Learn and Brunch session, organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, also provided parents with practical guidance on supporting teenagers’ digital wellbeing and making effective use of available parental control tools.
Meta said the conversations formed part of its broader efforts to encourage dialogue, strengthen partnerships and promote collective action aimed at advancing youth online safety in Nigeria as internet use among young people continues to expand.
