Instagram Teen Accounts are equipped with default safety features for teens and parental controls. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, recently announced the launch of Instagram Teen Accounts to enhance the safety of teenagers on the platform and provide more control for parents. This new feature will introduce built-in protections to regulate who can contact teens, restrict the type of content they can access, and create a more positive experience for young users.
Teen Accounts will automatically apply to all new Instagram users under the age of 16, subjecting them to a set of privacy and safety controls that cannot be changed without parental consent. Parents of teens under 16 will need to approve any modifications to these settings, ensuring that young users are safeguarded by default.
In addition to default private accounts and messaging restrictions, Instagram Teen Accounts will also include controls to filter out mature or inappropriate content from areas like Explore and Reels. Time management tools such as daily usage reminders and sleep mode will help manage teens’ screen time. These features were developed collaboratively with input from parents and teens.
For parents who desire more oversight, Instagram offers additional supervision features like viewing messaging activity, setting time limits, blocking app usage during specific times, and monitoring the content their teen interacts with. Parental supervision can be voluntarily activated for teens over 16, allowing parents to maintain oversight as their children grow older.
To address concerns about teens falsifying their age to bypass safety measures, Meta is working on technology to proactively identify underage users. This will ensure that all minors are placed into Teen Accounts, regardless of their listed age. Testing of this feature is set to begin in the United States next year.
Meta plans to roll out Teen Accounts to new and existing users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia within the next 60 days, with a wider release in the European Union later this year and worldwide in early 2025. Similar protections will also be extended to other Meta-owned platforms in the near future.
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