To coincide with Safer Internet Day, Instagram has announced the rollout of its Teen Accounts feature in India. This move aims to enhance the online safety of young users by creating a secure and age-appropriate environment. The Teen Accounts include several built-in protections that limit unwanted interactions, improve privacy settings, and provide parents with greater oversight.
In today's digital age, ensuring the safety of young internet users is crucial. Concerns have been raised about cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and privacy risks. Instagram's Teen Accounts address these issues by automatically placing all teen users under high safety settings.
"At Meta, creating a safer and more responsible digital environment is a top priority. With the expansion of Instagram Teen Accounts to India, we are strengthening protections, enhancing content controls, and empowering parents while ensuring a safer experience for teens," stated Natasha Jog, Director of Public Policy India at Instagram.
The new account type includes several default features aimed at protecting teens:
- **Private Accounts:** All accounts for users under 16 will be private by default.
- **Messaging Restrictions:** Teens can only receive messages from people they follow.
- **Sensitive Content Control:** Exposure to sensitive content is limited.
- **Limited Interactions:** Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by those they follow.
- **Time Limit Reminders:** Notifications prompt teens after 60 minutes of app usage.
- **Sleep Mode:** Notifications are muted from 10 PM to 7 AM.
Parents will have access to supervision tools that allow them to monitor their teen’s experience on Instagram. They can approve changes to safety settings and set daily screen-time limits.
"Teen safety online is a growing concern for parents, and Instagram’s new Teen Accounts feature is a step in the right direction," said Mansi Zaveri, Founder & CEO of Kidsstoppress.com.
For further protection, any adjustments making settings less restrictive require parental approval for users under 16. Parents can enable supervision for older teens as well.
Instagram has also strengthened age verification measures to ensure proper placement under safety settings and enhanced content protections so that teens are exposed only to age-appropriate material.
"The recent updates to Instagram’s teen accounts introduce an additional layer of security," commented Uma Subramanian, Co-Founder & Director at RATI Foundation.
