Pinterest’s CEO has thrown his help behind an Australia measure banning social media for youthful teenagers and is asking for governments around the globe to implement related bans. “Social media, because it’s configured immediately, will not be protected for younger individuals underneath 16,” Prepared writes in a bit published by Time. “We’d like a transparent customary: no social media for teenagers underneath 16, backed by actual enforcement, and accountability for cell phone working programs and the apps that run on them.”

Prepared is among the highest-profile tech CEOs to come back out in favor of a broad ban on social media for teenagers. That will additionally seem to be a daring stance for somebody who runs a platform with a person base that is greater than 50 % Gen Z, however Prepared would not assume that ban ought to apply to Pinterest. Pinterest, as he notes, already bars teenagers underneath 16 from accessing messaging options and different social options. It additionally makes teen accounts personal by default.

A spokesperson for Pinterest confirmed the corporate has no plans to vary its personal insurance policies concerning customers underneath 16, and mentioned Pinterest considers itself a “visible search platform” not social media. Pinterest, like most social media and social media-adjacent corporations, would not enable customers underneath 13 to enroll.

Social media or not, Pinterest has encountered baby safety-related points previously. In 2023, NBC Information reported that Pinterest’s recommendation algorithm was surfacing photographs and movies of younger women to adults who have been “looking for” such content material. A few of these customers had created Pinterest boards that includes pictures of younger women with titles like “horny little women,” their investigation discovered. The corporate made profiles for teenagers underneath 16 personal and “not discoverable” six months later.

Based on Prepared, Pinterest’s reputation with youthful customers is proof its insurance policies are additionally good for the corporate’s enterprise. “Our expertise exhibits that prioritizing security and well-being doesn’t push younger individuals away; it builds belief,” he writes.