Instagram’s New Teen Accounts Enhance Protection for Users Under 16

Instagram’s New Teen Accounts Enhance Protection for Users Under 16

Meta aims with this feature to group its teenage users into dedicated teen accounts on Instagram (AFP).

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has introduced a new feature on Instagram aimed at protecting teens from engaging with inappropriate communities. The new "Teen Accounts" offer a more controlled experience for users under 16, allowing them to explore the platform under parental supervision, according to Meta’s official site.

These teen accounts come with enhanced protective measures, limiting who can contact them and what content they can view. They also offer new ways for teens to explore their interests safely. Meta’s goal with this feature is to group its teenage users into these special accounts, where parental permission will be required to modify any of the default, stricter settings.

Meta stated, "We understand that parents want to feel confident that their teens can use social media to connect with friends and explore their interests without worrying about unsafe or inappropriate experiences."

The company added, "We understand parents' concerns, which is why we are redesigning our apps for teens with these new teen accounts. This new experience is designed to better support parents, giving them peace of mind that their teens are safe and appropriately protected."

Instagram has also added a new feature specifically designed for teens, allowing them to choose topics they want to see more of, helping them focus on fun and positive content they enjoy.

Additionally, Instagram is updating some of its parental control tools. Parents will now be able to see who their teen has communicated with in the past seven days (without seeing the content of the messages). They will also be able to view the topics their teen has chosen to see frequently.

Meta is attempting to alleviate parents' concerns about their teenagers using its platforms (Reuters).

Despite these protections for all teens on Instagram, questions remain about how effectively Meta can enforce them.

Meta’s spokesperson, Davis, stated, "We know that some teens may try to lie about their age to bypass these protections. That's why we're working on building new ways to verify the age of our users."

Currently, users who attempt to change their age from under 18 to over 18 are required to submit a video selfie, upload their ID, or have other users vouch for their age. However, Instagram’s new systems go even further.

The platform now uses artificial intelligence to detect signals that suggest a user is under 18. For instance, if a user claims to be 18 when creating their account but someone on the app wishes them a "happy 14th birthday," Instagram can use this information to verify their actual age, according to The Verge.

Davis concluded, "One of the widespread challenges with age is that it can be very difficult to determine. We must adopt a multi-layered approach because there isn’t a guaranteed way to do this."