Meta-owned Instagram, on Tuesday, introduced a new feature called “Teen Accounts” aimed at providing a safer experience for teens.
This feature, guided by parents, offers protections like limiting who can contact teens and the content they see. The platform will automatically place teens under 16 into Teen Accounts, and parental permission is required to relax any of these protections.
A Safer Experience for Teens
Instagram acknowledges that parents are concerned about their teens’ social media usage. The company has “reimagined” the teen experience to ensure safer online interactions.
According to Meta, Teen Accounts will give parents more control and reassurance while allowing teens to explore their interests within set boundaries.
Key Protections for Teen Accounts
Instagram created the Teen Accounts system to address parents’ top concerns, including online interactions, content exposure, and time management. These protections include:
- Private Accounts: By default, all teens under 16 (and teens under 18 when signing up) will have private accounts, meaning only approved followers can see or interact with their content.
- Messaging Restrictions: Teens will only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected with.
- Sensitive Content Control: The strictest content settings will be activated, limiting exposure to sensitive content like fighting or cosmetic procedure promotions in Explore and Reels.
- Limited Interactions: Only people that teens follow can tag or mention them. Instagram’s anti-bullying feature, “Hidden Words,” will also be set to the strictest level, filtering out offensive language.
- Time Limit Reminders: Notifications will remind teens to exit the app after 60 minutes of use daily.
- Sleep Mode: Sleep mode will activate from 10 PM to 7 AM, muting notifications and sending auto-replies to DMs.
Parental Involvement
Teens under 16 need parental permission to modify these settings. Once parental supervision is set up, parents can approve or deny requests to change these settings. Parents can also increase restrictions directly.
Instagram also introduced features for parents who want to be more involved:
- Chat Insights: Parents can see who their teens have messaged in the past seven days, although they can’t read the messages.
- Time Management: Parents can set daily time limits or block app access during specific hours.
- Topic Monitoring: Parents can view the age-appropriate topics their teens are engaging with on Instagram.
Age Verification and Content Restrictions
Instagram recognizes that some teens may attempt to lie about their age. They will require age verification in more areas and will use technology to detect accounts falsely using an adult birthdate.
This ensures that teens are placed in appropriate Teen Accounts with protections. Instagram will begin testing this technology in the U.S. early next year.
Global Rollout
Starting September 17, 2024, Meta will begin placing new and existing teens into Teen Accounts in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia.
In the European Union, the rollout will begin later in 2024, with a worldwide launch planned for January 2025. Meta also plans to bring Teen Accounts to other platforms next year.