Instagram will release an update that will tighten restrictions on underage accounts and create parental controls over them. The company made this decision amid growing concerns about the negative impact of social media.
Instagram writes about this in its blog.
Meta will automatically transfer all Instagram accounts of minors to “Teen Accounts” – they will be private by default. Users of such accounts will only be able to send messages and tag the accounts they follow.
Also, underage users will receive notifications to close the app after an hour of use every day. Accounts of users under 18 will also have a default sleep mode that will mute notifications at night.
Teenagers will have the “strictest settings” for messaging, so only those people to whom they are subscribed will be able to send them.
For teenage accounts, Instargam will restrict content with people fighting, advertising cosmetic procedures, etc.
Parental control
Parents won’t be able to read their teenagers’ messages, but they will be able to see who their children have messaged in the last seven days.
Although Instagram will send notifications after 60 minutes of using the app, parents will be able to decide how much time their teens can spend on Instagram each day. When a teenager reaches this limit, they will no longer have access to the app.
Parental controls will also include a feature that, if parents wish, will block Instagram at night or during certain set periods of time.
Users under the age of 16 will be able to change these settings only with parental permission.
Initially, the update will only apply to new users, but will be extended to existing teen accounts. Next year, teen accounts will be available not only on Instagram, but also on other Meta platforms.