Safer Surfing for Adolescents: What to Know About Instagram's Teen Accounts

April 21, 2025 | 10:26 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Instagram has introduced a new feature specifically designed for teenagers: Teen Accounts. This feature is aimed at users aged 13 to 17, with a number of automatically activated security settings once the account is created. The clear goal is to provide a safer, healthier, and age-appropriate social media experience.

Currently, Teen Accounts are only available in certain regions, such as the United States, Canada, the UK, and Australia. However, Meta previously declared that this feature will be expanded globally starting early 2025. The rollout is being done gradually, so not all teenagers in one family may immediately have access to this feature at the same time.

In a Meta official statement, it is mentioned that teenage accounts will be equipped with the strictest privacy and safety settings. This includes restrictions on who can contact them, the type of content that can be viewed, and limits on app usage time.

Special Features of Teen Accounts

Teen Accounts come with several automatically activated settings, allowing teenagers to directly enjoy a more protected experience. As quoted from the Instagram Help Center, here are the main features:

• New users aged 13-17 will automatically have a private account. Teenagers under 16 need parental permission to change their account to public.
• Only users who are already followed or have been connected can send messages. The same goes for the tagging and mention features, only people who are followed can do it.
• Teenage accounts are automatically placed in the most restrictive settings. Explicit content, such as violence or cosmetic procedure promotions, is limited in appearance on the feed, Explore, and Reels.
• Sleep Mode feature is automatically activated from 10 PM and 7 AM. During this period, notifications are muted, and reminders to rest will appear.
• After 60 minutes of using Instagram or Threads, teenagers will receive a reminder to stop. This is aimed at keeping their social media time balanced.

Meta also adds extra protection, such as prohibiting live broadcasts for users under 16 without parental permission. In addition, the automatic blur feature will hide images suspected of containing nudity in DMs and can only be turned off with parental approval.

Facebook and Messenger Next in Line

As part of efforts to create a safe digital ecosystem, Meta will expand Teen Accounts to other platforms, such as Facebook and Messenger. The goal is to provide a consistent and protected experience across all Meta apps used by teenagers.

Parents can also be more involved through the Supervision feature. Here are the benefits that parents can experience:

• Approve or reject their child's request to change security settings.
• Set daily time limits and block app access at certain times.
• See accounts contacted by their child in the last seven days.
• Know the topics or interests that their child is exploring on Instagram.

However, it is important to note that despite active supervision, parents cannot read message contents or reset their child's password, to maintain the child’s privacy.

In an Ipsos survey conducted for Meta, 94 percent of parents stated that Teen Accounts help them feel more confident in accompanying their child's use of social media, while 85 percent feel this feature makes the digital experience for teenagers more positive.

Since its launch last year, there have been over 54 million active teenage accounts using Teen Accounts. Meta claims that 97 percent of users aged 13-15 still maintain the default security settings, proving that this feature is well-received by young users and their families.

With various advanced features and support from the parental community, Instagram's Teen Accounts becomes a new milestone in building a social media that supports positive teenage growth.

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