“Instagram New Teen Safety Features-What’s New For Parents. Instagram has introduced new teen account restrictions for better safety, including private accounts, restricted messaging, sensitive content filters, and break reminders.”
Parents can link their accounts for better monitoring, ensuring a safe social media experience for young users.
Instagram has launched important teen safety features aimed at protecting young users. With growing concerns from parents and governments around the world about the safety of teens online, Instagram has introduced several changes focused on privacy, parental controls, and content moderation. Here are the details of the key updates and what parents should know.
While Instagram is working on improving age verification, Mosseri admits it is a complex issue. Users under 16 need parental approval to turn off restrictions, while teens over 16 can make changes themselves. Mosseri hopes device makers like Apple and Google can play a bigger role in making age verification easier and more accurate, as they are the best in the industry at understanding and verifying age.
Key Feature For Under 18
- All Instagram accounts for users under 18 will now be private by default, meaning only approved followers can view their content.
- Teens will not be able to send or receive direct messages from people they are not connected to, reducing unwanted interactions.
- Teens will have limited access to sensitive or inappropriate content on their feed, improving the safety of their browsing experience.
- Instagram is introducing filters for direct messages to prevent offensive language, creating a safer environment for younger users.
- Teens will receive reminders to take breaks after extended use. In “Sleep Mode” notifications will be stopped between 10 pm and 7 am.
- For users under 16, parental approval is required to disable these restrictions, with parents able to monitor activity from linked accounts.
- Teens can choose the topics of their interest to customize their feed, ensuring more age-appropriate and relevant content.
Key Feature For Parents
- Link your Instagram account with your teen’s to better monitor their activity, allowing you to turn off restrictions when appropriate.
- Use “break reminders” and sleep mode to help your teen manage screen time and develop healthy usage habits.
- Familiarize yourself with Instagram’s content filters and message monitoring tools to understand how they protect your child.
- Instagram is working on improving age verification, but parents should remain active and help ensure that the accurate date of birth is used.
- Work with your teen to choose appropriate topics to follow on Instagram, helping them connect with content that matches their interests and is safe for their age group.
Instagram is introducing new features to improve safety and family needs, aimed at reducing teen engagement. Despite the initial downfall, the platform believes these changes will ultimately yield benefits in the long run. Instagram prioritizes parental controls and tools to protect children online, prioritizing their needs over short-term commercial impacts.
