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Instagram is making teen accounts private by default as part of an effort to enhance safety for young users amid growing concerns about the impact of social media on youth.
Starting Tuesday, in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, anyone under 18 who creates a new Instagram account will be placed into a more restrictive teen account. Existing teen accounts will be migrated to these settings over the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will see similar changes later this year.
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, acknowledges that some teenagers may misreport their age. To address this, Meta will require more frequent age verification, particularly if a user attempts to register with an adult birthdate. The company is also developing technology that can detect teen accounts pretending to be adults, automatically placing them into the restricted settings.
These teen accounts will be private by default, limiting who can send direct messages to teens, allowing only those they follow or are already connected to.
Meta also said that “sensitive content,” such as videos of fights or posts promoting cosmetic procedures, will be restricted. Moreover, teens will receive notifications after spending 60 minutes on Instagram and a “sleep mode” will be activated between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., disabling notifications and sending automatic replies to direct messages.
