Instagram said it will start applying restrictions to kids’ accounts in an effort to make the Meta-owned app more “safe,” in the social media company’s words.
Starting Tuesday, new and existing users under 18 will have “Instagram Teen Accounts,” which will come with a few built-in restrictions. These accounts will automatically be set to private and strangers will not be able to message them — teen users will only receive messages from people they follow. These users will also have stricter “sensitive content restrictions” in place, which will block “sexually suggestive or violent” pictures and videos from being suggested to them.
“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,” Meta said in a Tuesday announcement outlining the changes.
Other restrictions include “Sleep Mode,” which will turn off notifications from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Teen users will also get a notification from Instagram telling them to get off of the app once they’ve been on for 60 minutes.
To change any of these new restrictions, teens under 16 will need to get approval from their parents — a move they can do by setting up “parental supervision” on their account.
Instagram’s changes come after the app, as well as other popular social apps like TikTok, have been skewered for not doing enough to combat sexual predators and the mental health issues teenagers face. Earlier this year, several major tech executives were grilled by Congress for their efforts, or lack thereof, to make their apps more kid-friendly.
At one point, Sen. Josh Hawley called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to stand up and apologize to parents who felt Facebook and Instagram had played a roll in their kids committing suicide.
“I’m sorry for everything you have all gone through, no one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered,” Zuckerberg said. “And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.”
