Instagram has launched a new initiative that will now automatically place teens in private accounts with more restrictions.
Instagram has launched a new initiative that will now automatically place teens in private accounts with more restrictions.
Meta announced Instagram Teen Accounts on Tuesday, which will limit who can contact teen users on the app, what content they see and who they interact with. Teens under 16 will need parental permission to make the settings less strict.
Instagram Teen accounts will be set to private by default, meaning followers they don’t opt in to won’t be able to see or interact with their content. Teens will also be placed in the strictest messaging settings so that only people they follow or are connected to can message them.
Teen accounts will also have more restrictive sensitive content settings, so things like fighting or other inappropriate content won’t appear in Reels or on the Explore page when younger users are browsing the app.
In terms of interactions on the app, teens will only be able to be tagged or mentioned by people they follow, and an anti-bullying feature will be on the most restrictive sensitive content setting so that offensive words or phrases are filtered out of their comments or direct message requests.
Teen accounts will also help cultivate healthy habits with features like time limit reminders prompting them to exit the app after 60 minutes a day, and sleep mode, which will be enabled between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. This will turn off notifications overnight and send automatic replies via direct message.
With teen accounts, parents also have more control. While they can’t read messages, parents will be able to see who their kids have been chatting with in the last seven days and what topics they’re browsing. Parents can also set daily time limits for the app and block usage during specific periods of time of their choosing.
