Instagram has added "teen" accounts for users under 18 years old. These accounts come with built-in safety restrictions by default, and changes to the settings can only be made with parental approval.
Starting from September 17, 2024, all new users under 18 will receive a new type of account — a "teen" account, according to The Verge. This feature will initially roll out in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K. Gradually, existing accounts will be converted into "teen" accounts as well. In the EU, they will be introduced in 2025, with plans for Meta to implement them on other platforms later.
These accounts will have special safety measures, such as being private by default, preventing strangers from messaging teens first, and enabling a "no notifications" mode from 10 PM to 7 AM. Teens will also see age-appropriate content in recommendations, like sports, travel, animals, and other topics.
Parents will be able to see who their child is messaging, but not the content of the messages. They will also have access to the topics their teen is most interested in. Parents can also set up a "sleep" mode.
Teens aged 16 to 18 will be able to change their settings on their own, while younger users will need parental permission, for example, if they want to make their account public.
Meta acknowledges that teens try to bypass restrictions by claiming they are over 18. To address this, the company has introduced video selfie verification, ID checks, and other methods. Now, they aim to add an AI-based verification that will look for "signals" indicating the user lied about their age — for instance, if a user claims to be over 18, but people in the comments congratulate them on turning 14.
In March 2021, BuzzFeed News reported that Facebook was working on a separate Instagram for children under 13. U.S. lawmakers urged the company to stop development, but Facebook stated that children already use the internet, and the social network wanted to provide them with a safer experience.
In September 2021, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into Facebook. It revealed that Instagram harms teen mental health, and the company was concealing this fact. Following the criticism, the company paused the development of Instagram for kids.