Change is coming to Instagram, with the first-ever “Teen Accounts” being introduced to allow more parental control over teenagers’ use of the app.
Meta, which owns Instagram, announced “Teen Accounts” on Tuesday. The new function will apply rules to curb excessive app use and give parents the ability to see who their children under the age of 16 are talking to and what posts their children see in their feeds.
Starting this week, accounts of people under 18 years old will be automatically switched to private status, and restrictive settings controlling who the user can communicate with will be applied. The accounts will only be able to direct message users they follow or are already connected to.
Minors will not be able to create new accounts with adult birthdays to work around the restrictions either. People signing up for a new account with birthdays indicating they are 18 years old or older will need an ID or a photo for the age verification tool to assess.
The changes will also restrict how much sensitive adult content, such as sexually suggestive posts and posts about self-harm, suicide, and fighting, are shown to users with “Teen Accounts.”
The app will also suggest that users turn Instagram off after one hour of use and will automatically mute notifications during nighttime. All the new settings can be turned off, but only with a parent’s permission if the user is under 16 years old.
Meta introduced the “Teen Accounts” program in response to backlash over Instagram’s safety measures for children and teenagers being too lax and the network being addictive and detrimental to mental health.
In 2023, Meta was sued by more than 41 states that claimed the company exposes children to harmful, explicit, and addictive content. Schools have implemented rules restricting phone access during class due to the addictive nature of social media.
At least 46 states have pending legislation against social media, such as Arizona’s House bill, Social Media Protections and Minors, and Kentucky’s House bill, Protection of Children Using Social Media.
In a Jan. 31 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican lawmakers made an effort to assess the social media crisis by bringing in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other social media CEOs.
Families of children who died by suicide were present at the hearing and demanded change from social media creators. Zuckerberg addressed them and their experiences directly.
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“I’m sorry for everything you’ve all gone through,” Zuckerberg said. “Nobody should have to go through what your families have suffered. This is why we have invested so much and are going to continue industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things your families have suffered.”
More than 100 million accounts belonging to children under the age of 18 will be switched this week. Changes in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia will occur throughout the next few months and in Europe later this year. Instagram will begin implementing “Teen Accounts” around the rest of the world in January.