Teen Accounts Introduced to Instagram
Instagram has introduced ‘Teen Accounts’ to provide more protections for users aged 13 to 15, while also offering parents increased oversight and reassurance of their social media usage across the platform. Teen Account settings will be automatically applied to users under 16, requiring parental approval to make any changes and providing built-in protections around who teens are interacting with, the content they see, and how much time they spend online.
Key features include:
- Content Control: Teens can select topics they want to prioritise in their feeds, allowing them to focus on content of interest while filtering out unnecessary distractions or potential sources of harmful content.
- Default Privacy Settings: Posts from teen accounts are set to private by default. This means the content is visible only to approved followers, and teens must manually approve any new followers to ensure they control who can see their posts.
- Messaging Restrictions: Teens will only receive messages from people they already follow, reducing the risk of unwanted or inappropriate interactions with strangers.
- Parental Controls: Parents will have the ability to monitor who their child is messaging, set time limits for Instagram usage, and block access during certain hours, such as at night.
David Wright CBE, CEO of SWGfL and Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said:
“The introduction of new Instagram accounts that are designed specifically for teenagers is a welcome addition to the Instagram suite of tools that is set to support parents with managing their children’s digital activities. These new tools aim to work alongside open conversations in the household around staying safe online so we can all work towards a safer online environment collectively.”
To find out more about reporting harmful content online, anyone over the age of 13 can visit SWGfL’s Report Harmful Content for information about community guidelines and reporting routes across platforms including Instagram and Facebook.