Meta is starting to roll out Teen Accounts on Instagram, which will limit the use and interactions of younger people on the social network. They will be automatically assigned to those under 16.
Summary
While social media is actually banned for those under 13, nothing prevents young Internet users from creating accounts. Indeed, many minors, and sometimes even teenagers under 13, are already very active on major digital platforms, and Instagram is no exception. Unfortunately, this trend can be dangerous. Between shocking content – which is not always filtered – and malicious people, young users are far from safe. Many predators use social media to get closer to minors, while the social network is singled out for its negative impact on the mental and physical health of young people.
Teen Instagram Account: Restrictions Automatically Applied
In a few weeks, users aged 13 to 15 will receive a notification that their profile will switch to “Teen” mode. This new type of account was designed to “addressing parents’ main concerns: what content can their teens see, who is chatting with them online, and is the time spent on the platform of good quality?”
Also, from now on, minors’ accounts will be set to private by default. As a result, they will be the ones who will have to accept new followers, accounts that do not follow them will not be able to see their content or interact with them. In addition, other users will not be able to contact younger users if they do not follow each other, regardless of their age. A feature that will help keep away predators or harassers who pretend to be teenagers on these platforms. In addition, teenagers will only be able to be mentioned and identified by the accounts they follow. The most restrictive version of the anti-harassment feature will be automatically activated, in order to hide offensive expressions and words in comments and DM invitations from teenagers.
Restrictions on so-called sensitive content (violence, promotion of cosmetic surgery, etc.) will be automatically set to the most restrictive value, in order to limit their visibility as much as possible, particularly in the Explore and Reels sections. Finally, sleep mode will be enabled by default between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. to limit device notifications, and young users will receive notifications reminding them to close the app after 60 minutes of use each day.
© Meta
Teen Instagram Account: Parents More Involved
With this new feature, adults will be able to supervise their children’s activities on the social network and take action accordingly, including blocking the app. Children under 16 will need a parent’s permission to relax the protection settings. To get it, they will need to set up parental supervision on Instagram – which is still available over 16 of course. Once parental supervision is in place, adults will be able to accept or reject requests to change settings from teenagers, as well as authorize them to change them on their own.
Parents will be able to be more involved in their teens’ digital lives. They won’t be able to see their teens’ messages, but they will be able to see who they’ve been chatting with in the last seven days. They’ll also be able to see the topics the young user has asked to see more often, based on their interests. They’ll also be able to set a daily usage limit, as well as set time slots for usage.
© Meta
Teen Instagram Account: Welcome Protection but It Can Be Circumvented
The rollout of these changes began on September 17, and they are expected to be active in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia within 60 days at the latest. The European Union will get them later this year, and the rest of the world will follow in January 2025. Teen accounts will be rolled out to other Meta platforms in 2025.
The question of age verification remains, as minors may be tempted to lie to avoid restrictions. Indeed, Instagram does not systematically check the age of its users at the time of registration, and Meta formally refuses to do so for each new registrant. For the company, it would be simpler and more effective if age control took place at the level of the mobile operating system of smartphones, which have significant information on the age of users and could share it with all the applications used by adolescents.
Afterwards, there are still some security barriers. Meta uses artificial intelligence to recognize the age of its users, in particular by detecting messages like “Happy 18th birthday!” or by comparing dates of birth on Facebook and Instagram accounts – if they are linked. Similarly, age verification is sometimes required, especially if a user who has already created an account by entering an age below 18 tries to change it, to pass themselves off as an adult. In this case, they will have to send a copy of their ID or take a video selfie that will be analyzed by artificial intelligence. But here again, it is possible to easily bypass the system with a little imagination…
