Official Instagram announcements or news reports

Instagram Launches Teen Accounts with Enhanced Privacy Settings for Users Under 18, Says Adam Mosseri

Sep 17, 2024, 05:00 PM

Instagram has announced the launch of 'Teen Accounts' with enhanced privacy and parental controls for users under 18. This move comes amid growing scrutiny and criticism over the platform's impact on young users' mental health and safety. The new settings will automatically make accounts private by default, limit the type of content teens can see, and restrict who can contact them. Notifications will be muted from 10 PM to 7 AM, and messaging, tags, and mentions will be limited to mutual followers. Parents will have more oversight, including the ability to see who their children are messaging. The changes will be implemented in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, with existing accounts being migrated over the next 60 days. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, noted that this update will affect over 100 million accounts, and users under 16 will require parental approval to change these settings.