Instagram introduces teen accounts with enhanced safety features and parental controls

Meta has announced the introduction of Instagram teen accounts, aimed at enhancing safety and providing peace of mind for parents. These accounts come with built-in protections that limit who can contact teens and the content they see, ensuring their time on the platform is well spent. Teens under 16 will require parental permission to relax any of these restrictions.

Key features include a default private account setting, restricting new followers and preventing non-followers from viewing or interacting with content. Messaging is restricted to only those teens follow or are already connected with. Sensitive content is controlled with the strictest settings automatically applied. Interactions are limited, allowing tags and mentions only from followed accounts. Additionally, time limit reminders notify teens to leave the app after 60 minutes each day, and sleep mode, active from 10 PM to 7 AM, mutes notifications and sends auto-replies to DMs.

Once supervision is established, parents can approve and deny their teens’ requests to change settings or allow teens to manage their settings themselves. Soon, parents will also be able to change these settings directly to be more protective. And to avoid teens lying about their age, Instagram will require them to verify their age in more places, like if they attempt to use a new account with an adult birthday.