Instagram “Teen Accounts” will include limits on who can contact young users and the type of content they can see.
Instagram users younger than 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of the built-in settings.
Meta Platforms, the owner of Instagram, was sued last year for allegedly targeting children and teenagers with addictive and manipulative features.
Teen Accounts have built-in protections which limit who can contact them and the content they see, and also provide new ways for teens to explore their interests. We’ll automatically place teens into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict.
In addition to being private by default, teen accounts can also only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected to.
The platform will also limit sensitive content including violence and videos promoting cosmetic procedures.
Instagram will send teen accounts notifications if the user is online for more than 60 minutes.
A “sleep mode” will also automatically mute notifications between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m, and auto reply to messages telling people to contact the user during the daytime.
Parents also have access to a suite of settings to monitor who their children are engaging with online.
“Parents will be able to see, via the family center, who is messaging their teen and hopefully have a conversation with their teen,” Gleit said.
How can users turn off teen accounts?
All users under the age of 18 will be given teen accounts automatically.
Teens aged 16 and 17 can disable the restrictions in the settings.
However, children aged 15 and under will need their parents’ permission to do so.
