Instagram unveils Teen Accounts with mandatory parental controls

Meta has introduced a new type of Instagram account specifically for teens, which includes significantly more parental supervision tools. Teens under 16 will automatically have the strongest parental control settings, while parents of older teens can adjust their amount of oversight. Instagram users who fall in the teenage range will automatically be placed into the teen accounts once they go live.

Teen Account holders will be automatically opted into the highest privacy settings, making their accounts private and prohibiting them from messaging strangers. Those settings cannot be changed without the approval of a parent.

Parents will also be able to monitor which the accounts kids are sending messages to, but will be unable to read those messages. They can also limit the amount of time kids spend in the app and see the topics their kids are looking at in their feed.

“This new experience is designed to better support parents, and give them peace of mind that their teens are safe with the right protections in place,” the company wrote in a blog post.

To prevent teens from just entering a fake birthday to get around the restrictions, Meta says it’s building technology to proactively find accounts that belong to teens, even if it has an adult birthday. (That’s expected to go live early next year.) It’s also requiring new signups to verify their age.

Teens should be in the teen accounts within 60 days, the company says, in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia. Users in The European Union will begin the shift later this year.

Meta has been on the defensive about how it handles young users since a whistleblower leaked internal documents suggesting Facebook knowingly prioritized profit over well-being and safety. The controversy led to a congressional testimony and spurred debate about what could be done to protect minors online. In October 2023, more than 30 US states filed a lawsuit against Meta alleging harmful youth marketing.