Image of new Instagram Teen Account. Photo courtesy of Instagram/UPI
Sept. 17 (UPI) — Instagram on Tuesday introduced new accounts for teenagers that will provide built-in protections for young people and give parents the confidence their child is in a safe environment. The platform, owned by Facebook’s parent Meta, said the teen accounts will limit who can contact teenagers, and what they can see on the account and give parents some say in upgrading their account.
To focus on the amount of time teens spend on the app, they will receive notifications after 60 minutes each day and the sleep mode will be turned on from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Instagram said once teenagers sign up to use Instagram that they will be automatically given a teen account with built-in protections. Users 16 and younger would need parental permission to make changes to a less restrictive account.
“We know parents want to feel confident that their teens can use social media to connect with their friends and explore their interests, without having to worry about unsafe or inappropriate experiences,” Instagram said in a statement.
“We understand parents’ concerns, and that’s why we’re reimagining our apps for teens with new Teen Accounts,” Instagram said. “This new experience is designed to better support parents and give them peace of mind that their teens are safe with the right protections in place.”
Parents will also be able to set additional restrictions such as setting daily time limits for usage and blocking teens from using the app at certain time periods.
Parents will also be able to view who teens are chatting with on Instagram and view topics teens are viewing.