Instagram launches teen accounts with enhanced privacy and parental controls for users under 18

Instagram is revamping how it operates for teenagers, introducing more "built-in protections" aimed at young users, along with additional controls and peace of mind for parents.

From Tuesday, the new "teen accounts" will be rolled out in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.

These accounts will automatically enable several privacy settings for users under 18, such as making their content inaccessible to those who do not follow them and requiring active approval of all new followers.

However, children aged 13 to 15 will only be able to modify these settings if they add a parent or guardian to their account.

Social media platforms are facing increased global pressure to enhance safety measures, particularly to protect young people from harmful content.

The UK children’s charity, NSPCC, welcomed Instagram's move as a "step in the right direction."

But they also pointed out that these account settings “put the emphasis on children and parents needing to keep themselves safe."

Rani Govender, the NSPCC’s online child safety policy manager, said such efforts "must be backed up by proactive measures that prevent harmful content and sexual abuse from proliferating Instagram in the first place.”

Meta describes the updates as a "new experience for teens, guided by parents."

The company claims the changes will "better support parents, and give them peace of mind that their teens are safe with the right protections in place."

Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly viewed content about self-harm and suicide on Instagram before her tragic death, told the BBC it was crucial to see how well the new policies are applied.

“Whether it works or not we’ll only find out when the measures come into place," he said.

“Meta is very good at drumming up PR and making these big announcements, but what they also have to be good at is being transparent and sharing how well their measures are working."

The new teen accounts will mainly affect users aged 13 to 15, with several settings automatically turned on.

These include strong controls on sensitive content to prevent recommendations of harmful material, along with muted notifications during nighttime hours.

Additionally, accounts will be set to private by default, meaning teenagers will need to manually approve new followers, and their content will not be visible to those who do not follow them.