Instagram Introduces Teen Accounts

Photo Credit: Instagram via USA Today

On Sept. 17, Meta Platforms announced the creation of new Teen Accounts. They will introduce time limit reminders, bad language filters, sleep mode, and restrictions on the Instagram content viewed by teens under the age of 16. 

According to Meta, these protections will limit who can contact the teen, and  introduce sensitive-content restrictions, which are intended to “open new ways for teens to explore their interests”. 

In these Teen Accounts, various protection settings will be activated by default. The accounts will feature the highest setting of sensitive content filtering, and messaging will be restricted to those who “already follow or are connected to” the user.

The accounts will be private by default, allowing only followers to see posts. As well, teen account users can only be tagged or mentioned by people they know or are following. 

Another feature, Hidden Words, filters out offensive content or words in messages or post comments. Teens will also receive daily reminders telling them to take a break after an hour on the app.

In exchange for all the restrictions, a new feature was released exclusively to teen account users. The update lets users select specific topics they would like to see on their recommendations page. 

In making these changes, Meta sought to reassure parents that teens are having safe online experiences. 

Meta has already started preparing teens on Instagram for the change, notifying them of the upcoming updates before all accounts registered to teens in Canada, Australia, Britain and the US  become Teen Accounts. The transition that will be completed by Nov. 17. Later this year, Meta plans to launch the update to most of Europe, with other countries seeing changes beginning in January.

 “These are big updates that will change the Instagram experience for millions of teens, and we need to make sure they work correctly,” Meta said in a media release. In the future, the company plans to bring Teen Accounts to other Meta platforms, like Facebook.