Instagram’s New Teen Account: What Parents Should Know

Social media platforms have been under a lot of pressure lately to make their apps safer. This week, Meta announced a major update that looks to be the first significant response to that pressure: Instagram Teen Accounts. 

The changes aim to create a safer, more controlled environment for young people and are a really promising step in the right direction. The update doesn’t eliminate all Instagram’s risks for kids and teens, but it should certainly help. One leading critic of social media, Jonathan Haidt, expressed his cautious optimism: “Meta is the big fish,” he said. “For Meta to move first, I think, is a very good sign, and it’s likely to encourage other platforms to treat teens differently.”

Let’s look at what protections Teen Accounts actually provide (and what they don’t) so you can make an informed decision that’s right for your family.

What is a Teen Account on Instagram?

Instagram Teen Accounts are designed specifically to protect users under 18 by automatically applying several built-in safety features. These accounts limit who can contact teens and the types of content they can access.

Meta will automatically place users under 18 into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need parental permission to change any of these settings to be less strict. Supervision features will automatically end when a teen turns 18 (and parents will be notified of this change).

Instagram will start applying changes to new teen accounts this week. Existing accounts in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia will see updates over the next two months, while other countries will start in January 2025.

Privacy and Safety Features

The new Teen Accounts default to private settings. This means that only approved followers can view a teen’s content. Messaging is also restricted so that teens can only communicate with people they already follow. These features apply to all teens under 16 (including those already on Instagram and those signing up) and teens under 18 when they sign up for the app.

Parental Controls

For teens under 16, any changes to these protective settings require parental permission. Parents also now have access to supervision features that allow them to monitor their teen’s Instagram activity. These include:

• Time limits: Set daily time limits for Instagram and Threads usage. Teens can be reminded that time is up and to close the app, or the app can be blocked completely when the limit is reached.
• Sleep mode: Schedule times when access to the apps are restricted.
• Usage insights: View average daily usage over the past week.
• Account management: Check which accounts the teen follows, who follows them, and which accounts they’ve blocked.
• Privacy settings: Monitor the teen’s account privacy settings.
• Messaging settings: See message request settings, including who can add them to group chats.

Content Restrictions

Content restrictions are meant to limit exposure to potentially harmful or mature material. With the update, teens are automatically placed into the most restrictive setting, which impacts the type of content they’ll see in places like Explore and Reels — even if it’s shared by someone they follow.

Types of content that are restricted include:

• Fighting
• Promotion of cosmetic procedures
• Suicide and self-harm
• Eating disorders

Time Management

Instagram now offers time limit reminders to encourage balanced usage, along with a sleep mode that mutes notifications from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Experts recommend 9-10 hours of sleep for teens but most are not getting that. Young people are suffering in a major way from lack of sleep so it’s great that these settings promote healthier digital habits and help so teens aren’t disrupted during critical rest periods.

Account Security

Meta’s announcement does not specifically mention any updates to security measures for teens. The new parental controls will provide parents with insights into who their teens have chatted with in the last seven days, so that could help identify scammers (if parents know what signs to look for). As far as protections against hacking or other security threats, no new info was announced.

Mental Health

The impact of social media on youth mental health is a big concern. Restricting certain types of content and nudging young users to avoid excessive amounts of time on the app may help. But the safety features announced with Teen Accounts shouldn’t be expected to solve the mental health problem altogether.

The many experts that have advocated for keeping kids off social media until later into their teen years are unlikely to change that position in light of this update.

Updates on Data Usage

No new detail was released by Meta on updates to how Instagram will treat teen data. The update does provide the first real suggestion that Meta is taking the adolescent experience seriously and offering a tailored approach, but without any specific announcement it’s unlikely data usage has changed.

Targeted Ads

Meta’s announcement was also curiously devoid of any mention of targeted ads. I assume the content restrictions teens are defaulted into will apply to targeted ads as well. But after reading several articles from Meta directly, as well as from other outlets, I haven’t seen anything to suggest new, unique protections are being implemented to limit exposure to age-inappropriate ads.

Notifications

As part of the parent control settings, parents can now receive alerts if suspicious activity is detected on their teen’s account. That’s helpful. As for the constant distraction facing teens who have Instagram notifications enabled, that remains a problem.

Age Verification

This is probably the single biggest question left unanswered by Meta’s announcement. All of the protections offered by Instagram’s Teen Account are obsolete if a kid can just lie about their age and use the app as if they were older than 18. Or by convincing an older friend or sibling to sign up as their “parent/guardian” and then easing all the parental controls.

Meta has been experimenting with ways to verify age, as covered in The Atlantic, but has not shared all of their plans for how they will realistically enforce this.

What Does This Mean for Parents?

The introduction of Instagram Teen Accounts is good news. Many of the specific features should provide more protection. If you were already comfortable with your teen using Instagram then be sure to get familiar with the new controls and apply them as it makes sense for your child.

If you didn’t feel that your teen was ready, these new features likely aren’t enough on their own to change that position. Given the potential harms, this is one area where it’s better to be safe than sorry. Great options exist for high quality phones that allow teens to use safe apps without giving them full access to the many unsafe apps out there. Opt for that route if you’re unsure.

What do you think about the new announcement from Meta? What questions do you still have? We’ll be updating this article as more information comes out in weeks and months ahead so let us know in the comments.

Author Jake Cutler

Jake is Gabb Now's managing editor. He and his wife have three wild little boys. Prior to Gabb, Jake was a band manager and adjunct faculty in the English department at BYU and BYU-Hawaii. His own writing has been published by Esquire, Forbes, Elsewhere, Iron Horse Literary Review, and others.

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