Meta unveils Teen Instagram accounts in India. 10 things you should know

This phased rollout aims to create a safer, more age-appropriate space for teens by adding protective features that creates a safe space for teens on Instagram.

Meta has introduced Teen Accounts on Instagram in India, marking Safer Internet Day and reinforcing its commitment to providing a safe digital experience for younger users.

Meta rolls out teen account on Instagram (Image source: Pexels)

This phased rollout aims to create a safer, more age-appropriate space for teens by adding protective features that limit unwanted interactions, enhance privacy, and increase parental supervision, Meta said in a statement.

By addressing concerns around cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and privacy risks, Instagram seeks to ensure a safer environment for young users.

Natasha Jog, Director of Public Policy India at Instagram, said in a statement, “At Meta, creating a safer and more responsible digital environment is a top priority. With the expansion of Instagram Teen Accounts to India."

She further added, "We are strengthening protections, enhancing content controls, and empowering parents, while ensuring a safer experience for teens.”

Features of teen accounts

The new features address key concerns raised by parents, educators, and policymakers.

1. To ensure a secure experience, all teen accounts are set to private by default. This means that teens must approve followers, and non-followers cannot interact with their content.
2. Messaging settings will have the most restrictive settings activated for teens, limiting them to receiving messages only from people they follow or others they are connected to.
3. Instagram will restrict exposure to sensitive content, such as depictions of violence or discussions of cosmetic surgery, by default, in areas like Explore and Reels.
4. One of the most notable features of Teen Accounts is the introduction of daily usage limits. Teen users will receive reminders after an hour of daily usage, prompting them to log off.
5. The app will also enter “Sleep Mode” between 10 PM and 7 AM, muting notifications and automatically sending replies to direct messages.
6. Instagram has introduced further tools to limit interactions—teens can only be tagged or mentioned by users they follow. Additionally, the anti-bullying feature, Hidden Words, will be enabled by default to filter out abusive language in comments and direct messages.
7. Tight discretion has always been a cornerstone of Teen Accounts, and with the latest supervision features.
8. Parents can see a list of people their teen has messaged in the past seven days, without accessing the message content.
9. Once the set time limit is reached, teens will be unable to access Instagram.
10. Parents can easily block access to Instagram during nighttime or other designated hours.

These settings will require parental approval for loosening safety measures for users under 16. Parents will also have the ability to implement supervision for older teens (16 and above), allowing them to approve changes made to their teen’s safety settings. In the near future, parents will be able to directly adjust these settings to provide even stronger protection.

Instagram is also implementing stricter measures to ensure that age limits are respected. If a teen attempts to misrepresent their age, additional verification steps will be required. These measures will prevent users from bypassing age restrictions while ensuring that all teens are placed under the correct safety settings.