In January 2025, Instagram will mandate Teen Accounts for all existing users under age 16 and all new users under age 18. With accounts set to private to promote safety, this new feature will limit what minors can see and interact with.
Meta Platforms Inc., which owns and operates Instagram, posted to its website on Sept. 17 that Teen Accounts are designed to “better support parents, and give them peace of mind that their teens are safe with the right protections in place.”
Sensitive content restrictions aiming to remove videos of violence from teenagers’ feeds and limit who can send them direct messages are also included in this update. For example, the Hidden Words feature filters out offensive words and phrases from teens’ comments and direct message requests. Parents will also have more control over what their children can access on their accounts and have easier monitoring tools.
“Where are people getting their information? Instagram. That is not where I want to look for information,” Lab parent Ansul Asad said. “A lot of adults don’t have the ability to filter through it, let alone kids.”
Sensitive content restrictions will be placed on videos deemed sensitive or potentially harmful to a younger audience, including videos depicting violence, self-harm or eating disorders.
“I think the feature is less effective on Instagram because people don’t post as frequently or as much,” sophomore Nika Nelson said. “I think it’d be more beneficial on TikTok.”
Teens under 16 will need to receive parental permission before changing any default settings that come with having a Teen Account. Dr. Asad thinks that this update will help her family reduce their usage of the app.
“It’s not just kids. Adults as well just have no concept of what a great time suck it is,” Dr. Asad said. “You know, when you look at your usage and it’s like, yeah, I spent five hours on Instagram today. Really? Did I have five hours to spare?”
Instagram is currently working on technology to find teenagers who lied about their age when signing up on the platform. Teenagers who entered a fake birthday to seem older might receive this update later.
