With increasing cases of safety concerns worldwide, Instagram is implementing additional measures to protect teenagers when they sign up for an account.
Instagram has officially announced the launch of “Instagram Teen Accounts,” which come with built-in protection designed to automatically safeguard teens and, hopefully, reassure parents.
“A new experience for teens, guided by parents”
The idea is also to make sure that teens under 16 need a parent’s permission if they want to loosen any of the built-in protections in their Teen Accounts.
“Teen Accounts come with built-in protections that limit who can contact them and what they see, plus they offer new ways for teens to explore their interests.”
Every parent’s biggest concerns
The new restrictions are also designed to address parents’ biggest concerns, where Instagram is automatically setting up Teen Accounts for users under 16. These teens will need parental permission to relax any of these strict settings:
- Private Accounts: Teens under 16 (and new users under 18) will have private accounts by default, meaning they must approve followers and non-followers can’t see their content.
- Messaging Restrictions: Teens can only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected with.
- Sensitive Content Controls: Teens will see fewer sensitive content types (like violence or cosmetic procedure promotions) by default.
- Limited Interactions: Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow, and offensive words will be filtered out of comments and direct messages (DMs).
- Time Limit Reminders: Teens will receive notifications to take breaks after 60 minutes of app usage each day.
Sleep Mode: Notifications will be muted, and auto-replies will be sent to DMs from 10 PM to 7 AM.
“This will change the Instagram experience for millions of teens”
Even though teens might lie about their age, Instagram is stepping up by requiring age verification in more situations, like when they try to use a new account with an adult birthday.
“We’re also working on technology to find teen accounts even if they list an adult birthday. This will help us put those accounts under the same protections as Teen Accounts.”
Starting September 17th, Instagram will begin placing new sign-ups into Teen Accounts and will notify current teens about these changes.
“The plan is to move teens in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia into Teen Accounts within 60 days, with the European Union and other Meta platforms getting them later in the year. Teen Accounts will roll out globally in January.”
What do you think about Instagram’s new measures? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Also read: Study: 71% of Malaysians Want Children Aged Below 14yo Banned from Using Social Media
