What are Instagram accounts for teens? New feature strengthens parental controls

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 4 minutes read

What are Instagram accounts for teens? New feature strengthens parental controls

Instagram has officially launched its new teen accounts feature, marking one of Meta's biggest efforts yet to strengthen the safety of its youngest users online.

The new accounts, automatically assigned to any new user under 18, place limits on what users can see, who can message them and interact with them, and allow parents to exercise more control over their teens' social media use.

Meta had promised to roll out additional safety features earlier this year after coming under fire in the US and Europe over allegations its apps were addictive and fuelling a mental health crisis among young people.

In October, more than 40 states filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming that the social media company profited from ad revenue generated by intentionally designing features on Instagram and Facebook to maximize the time teens and children spent on the platforms.

Meta said in a statement at the time that it shared “the commitment to providing teens with safe and positive experiences online,” adding, “We are disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps used by teens, the attorneys general have chosen this path.”

Now, users will start to see some of the promised changes.

What is a teen Instagram account?

Every new Instagram user under the age of 18 will automatically be enrolled in a teen account, which regulates how they view and interact with the app and gives parents specific controls over their teen's experience on the app.

These accounts come with unique features designed to limit teens' activity on the app, including messaging and inappropriate content restrictions, automatic private accounts, and parent-set time limits.

Accounts can be changed to have less strict settings, but teens under 16 will need their parents' permission to make this change.

“We know parents want to feel confident that their teens can use social media to connect with friends and explore their interests, without having to worry about unsafe or inappropriate experiences,” Instagram said in a press release. “This new experience is designed to better support parents and give them peace of mind knowing their teens are safe with the right protections in place.”

Content visible through the Teen account is filtered to the strictest settings, hiding content labeled as “sensitive” even when shared by someone they follow. Accounts also warn the app not to suggest any content marked as potentially sensitive to those accounts in the first place. This applies not only to traditional posts, but also to Reels and suggested accounts.

Sensitive posts may include things like sexually suggestive content, content discussing suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, images of violence, including filmed fights, and posts discussing plastic surgery procedures.

Teens will also have access to a new Explore feature that lets them select which topics they want to see more posts about, allowing them to further personalize what appears on their pages.

Messaging is also restricted by default on teen accounts, meaning they can only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected to. Teen accounts can also only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow and are equipped with Instagram's strictest anti-bullying settings, meaning offensive words and phrases will be filtered out of comments and DM requests.

How will Instagram enforce teen accounts?

Instagram also plans to enforce these age restrictions even when teens try to circumvent them by lying about their birthdate or trying to gain parental controls on other people's accounts.

Account creators will be required to verify their age with an ID, and additional verification steps will be added. Starting in 2022, teens must prove their age with a video selfie or ID verification if they attempt to change their birthdate from under 18 to over 18. If a teen attempts to change their birthdate from a younger age to an older age, the platform requires proof of age with ID verification.

Other measures will include using information about a teen's original account to prevent them from using a new account with an adult age or to prevent teens from linking their accounts to accounts with adult ages.

Similarly, Instagram is working on an AI model that can detect whether someone is likely to be a minor even if they provide an adult birthday when signing up for their account. Using clues like a review of accounts and the types of content an account engages with, the AI technology, which has not yet been rolled out, can automatically downgrade an account to a teen version, though account owners can change that setting.

Parental Control Features

Parental controls are a major component of the new teen accounts, as Instagram said its inspiration for the new features came from feedback on parents' most common concerns.

Parents can set up parental controls on their teens' accounts, allowing them to approve and deny requests to change their teens' settings or allowing teens to manage their own settings, and giving parents access to optional monitoring tools.

With these tools, parents can see what topics their teens are viewing and who they’re chatting with. While parents can’t read their kids’ messages or directly see what posts they’re viewing, they can see who their teen has messaged in the last seven days and what topics they’ve chosen to see more of on their News Feeds.

There are a few other parental tools that allow users to limit the time spent on Instagram. Here are a few:

Time Limit Reminders:Teens will receive notifications asking them to exit the app after 60 minutes each day.
Sleep mode enabled:Sleep mode will be enabled between 10pm and 7am, which will disable notifications during the night and send automatic replies to DMs.
Set total daily time limits for teens' Instagram usage:Parents can decide how much time their teen can spend on Instagram each day. Once that limit is reached, the teen will no longer be able to access the app.

How to Get a Teen Instagram Account

Instagram began moving all teens under 18 who sign up for a new account to teen accounts starting Tuesday, but existing accounts belonging to teens won't be automatically transferred yet.

According to the company, Instagram plans to transition existing accounts owned by teens to teen accounts within the next 60 days in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and elsewhere starting in January.

What is a teen Instagram account?

How will Instagram enforce teen accounts?

Parental Control Features

How to Get a Teen Instagram Account

Lina Portman

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