"Protecting teens from James Charles": Twitter responds as Instagram restricts DMs between teens and adults

Beauty influencer James Charles has recently become a target for Twitter users as numerous charges of sexually predatory behavior, underage grooming and pedophilia continue to pile up against him. The 21-year-old is now being credited for Instagram's latest policy change involving teens and adults being able to DM each other with “Safety prompts” to be shown to teens when they DM adults who have been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior.”

James Charles actions reportedly spur Instagram DM policy changes regarding teens and adults.

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Instagram will no longer let adults message teens who don’t follow them.“Safety prompts” will be shown to teens when they DM adults who have been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior.”🔗: https://t.co/aiOd1iog9l pic.twitter.com/H83uxIubVq

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 16, 2021

Popularly dubbed the 'James Charles' update, adult Instagram users now cannot DM users below the age of 18 who have not followed them back on the platform. The platform-wide change is a move in which Instagram is attempting to make the platform safer for minors. They've also announced that artificial intelligence and machine learning technology will be used to determine users' actual ages when signing up to prevent predatory behavior.

Twitter users have attributed this sudden change to the allegations against James Charles where the 21-year-old star allegedly s**ted a 16-year-old.

At least instagram will make sure that you don’t DM kids anymore since you couldn’t be bothered to do that due diligence yourself.

— Molina (@ThriftedShake) March 16, 2021

* @jamescharles has announced he will be leaving Instagram now * https://t.co/dMnjEErmsd

— Xavier Torres (@xjtorres21) March 16, 2021

Pedo #jamescharles is gonna be upset now guys. He’s gonna be following more minors I bet! Instagram is trying to stop him from sexting children 😂 pic.twitter.com/ThLMyYAlAx

— Dylan (@dylan_davi3s) March 17, 2021

So if I admit to a crime I have done does that make it okay? David Dobrik and James Charles #wednesdaywisdom lol pic.twitter.com/fLgEsCpjmf

— Hope Barnes (@HopethTweets) March 17, 2021

not Instagram having to revise its rules because of James Charles pic.twitter.com/x6ptObroSm

— marjorie ʚ♡ɞ (@mlynnhorizons) March 16, 2021

TOTALLY UNEXPECTED: Instagram implementing new policies to prevent random adults from messaging young teens, including notification that DM’ing them isn’t an option. Insta is also developing AI to verify its users’s real ages. James Charles could not be reached for comment. pic.twitter.com/BVsqxpQosL

— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) March 16, 2021

Bad day for James Charles pic.twitter.com/c28JQ64wRz

— Ethan Klein (@h3h3productions) March 16, 2021

James Charles has been subjected to a slew of allegations across the last month, with multiple victims coming forward stating that he had approached them online with sexual interest and was predatory in nature.

WHO COULD’VE SEEN THIS COMING: James Charles’s alleged victim banned from TikTok. This only weeks after 16-year-old Isaiyah exposed James for allegedly sending him nudes, which is a crime. James later apologized, which some saw as a confession. pic.twitter.com/3DnTm5SME9

— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) March 11, 2021

WHO COULD’VE SEEN THIS COMING: James Charles’s alleged victim banned from TikTok. This only weeks after 16-year-old Isaiyah exposed James for allegedly sending him nudes, which is a crime. James later apologized, which some saw as a confession. pic.twitter.com/3DnTm5SME9

— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) March 11, 2021

In another instance, the YouTube star was caught talking about how "young" he would date with some very foreshadowing and concerning statements.

YOUTUBE ARCHEOLOGY: Clip of James Charles saying he’s not physically attracted to older guys and he would “date the absolute youngest, like 18-19 that looks a little bit older” resurfaces. https://t.co/jYlu9nG1mg

— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) February 28, 2021

"So, the thing is for me, I'm 21 but I have the mentality of a 40-year-old. So, for me, I'm much more mentally and emotionally mature than a lot of people my age. I'm not physically attracted to older guys, which s**ks. Like, I would date the absolute youngest like 18-19 that looks a little bit older."

With the latest Instagram change, instances of underage grooming and abuse of minors are expected to go down.