Instagram recently launched teen accounts for users under the age of 18. These accounts offer increased privacy and parental controls.
Teen accounts include built-in safeguards that limit who can interact with them and the content they see, as well as additional methods for teens to pursue their interests.
The feature automatically places teens into these new accounts. These profiles will automatically enable many privacy settings for users under the age of 18, including making their content inaccessible to non-followers and requiring active permission of all new followers. Parents of teens under the age of 16 must authorize any changes to these settings, guaranteeing the positive attitude of teen users. These upgrades, among other things, allow parents to see who their teenagers are texting and to establish daily Instagram usage limits. The new feature will mute notifications during nighttime hours.
Meta identifies the updates as a “new experience for teens, guided by parents.”
Instagram will start putting newly registered kids into Teen Accounts, with existing teen users being notified next week. The functionality will be first available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with plans to expand to the European Union and other regions early next year. Teen accounts will also be available on other Meta platforms starting next year.
This initiative is a step forward to protect children from violent, harmful content available online along with strong controls on sensitive content.
