The opinions expressed below are those of Jon Keller, not of WBZ, CBS News, or Paramount Global.

BOSTON – After coming under pressure from lawmakers and sued by dozens of states in 2023 because he allegedly harmed children and teenagers, Meta launches Instagram for teens.

“If we see a teen trying to create a new account as an adult account, we ask them to verify their age,” said Antigone Davis, global head of security at tech giant Meta.

That’s just one of a number of new “safety measures” the company is rolling out to its Instagram app, including new “teen accounts” that are private by default, restrict who the teen can message and limit the user’s exposure to “sensitive content.”

“We listened to the parents and tried to address their concerns,” Davis said in an interview with CBS News.

Survivors say social media hurts their children

Deb Schmill, whose daughter Becca died of a drug overdose after being the victim of a one-two-three punch from online sexual predators, bullies and drug dealers, says she doesn’t believe social media companies care about children. Schmill, who runs a foundation in Needham in her daughter’s name that works to pressure social media companies to clean up their act, said: “They’ve been watching what’s going on in Congress, and they’re getting nervous.”

Schmill was among the bereaved families at a Senate hearing last winter, where an apology of sorts was offered by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “No one should have to go through the things that your families have gone through,” Zuckerberg told the parents after being pressed by senators to apologize.

The Senate later passed the Children’s Internet Safety Actthe imposition of relatively strict new rules for social media, and the self-imposed new Instagram measures come one day before the House of Representatives is scheduled to take up the measure.

Will social media really change?

Dr. David Bickham of the Children’s Hospital is studying what social media is doing to children. He is positive about what Instagram is doing, but notes: “There’s a lot of time and effort that goes into making the platform really attractive, and making it look beautiful and successful. And then at the end you can add the parental tools, which are harder to use and more accessible.”

But Deb Schmill sees a political scam going on. “This is an insult to the parents who lost their children,” she said. “What they’re proposing is right, absolutely, but I also think it’s too little, too late. They can’t be trusted.”

It’s a familiar pattern: the tech giants point to these new rules and say they’re doing their best, while their lobbyists work behind the scenes.

But whistleblowers and ongoing social media safety issues tell a different story. And a nearly 30-year-old federal law that shields tech giants from legal liability could be threatened by a current lawsuit alleging TikTok is liable for the death of a 10-year-old girl after its algorithm recommended the infamous Blackout Challenge.

We will see whether the threat of massive legal convictions is more accountable than mere political threats.