Technology
Instagram Introduces New Protections for Teenagers, Enhances Parental Controls
Instagram is revamping its platform for teenagers, introducing new “built-in protections” aimed at enhancing safety for young users. Starting Tuesday, the new “teen accounts” will roll out in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, focusing on safeguarding users under 18 with enhanced privacy settings and parental oversight.
These accounts will automatically enable key privacy settings, including making content inaccessible to non-followers and requiring active approval of all new followers. Teenagers aged 13 to 15 will only be able to modify these settings if they add a parent or guardian to their account, further strengthening parental involvement.
This update comes as social media platforms face growing pressure globally to introduce more robust safety measures, particularly to protect young users from harmful content. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, describes the changes as a “new experience for teens, guided by parents,” aimed at better supporting families and ensuring the safety of teenagers online.
UK children’s charity NSPCC welcomed Instagram’s changes, calling them a “step in the right direction,” but highlighted that the responsibility for safety should not solely rest on children and parents. “Efforts must be backed by proactive measures that prevent harmful content and sexual abuse from proliferating Instagram in the first place,” said Rani Govender, the NSPCC’s online child safety policy manager.
Ian Russell, the father of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who tragically died after viewing harmful content on Instagram, stressed the importance of seeing how effectively the new policies are implemented. “Meta is very good at drumming up PR and making these big announcements, but they also need to be transparent about how well their measures are working,” Russell told the BBC.
The new teen accounts will come with automatic settings, including strong controls on sensitive content, muted notifications during nighttime hours, and private accounts by default, ensuring that teens must manually approve new followers. The changes aim to prevent harmful content from reaching young users and provide peace of mind for parents concerned about their children’s online safety.
