Instagram introduces mandatory 'Teen Accounts' with built-in limits, parental controls

For the first time in its history, Instagram on Tuesday announced the launch of accounts designed specifically for teenage users with built-in privacy protections.

The new accounts, called "Teen Accounts," will be automatic for all Instagram users under the age of 18, both for teens already using the app and for those signing up.

By default, Instagram users younger than 16 will need a parent's permission to change their account settings.

The changes -- expected to impact tens of millions of users -- were announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a live interview on "Good Morning America."

"They're an automatic set of protections for teens that try to proactively address the top concerns that we've heard from parents about teens online," Mosseri said on "GMA." "Things like who can contact them, what content they see and how much time they spend on their device ... all without requiring any involvement from the parent."

Mosseri said the rollout of Teen Accounts starts Tuesday with new users signing up for the app, while existing teen users will see their accounts switch to the new Teen Accounts model within 60 days.

Among the changes put in place by Instagram include a new privacy setting that, by default, places all teen users in private accounts. In order to switch to a public account, teens under age 16 will need a parent's permission.

Under the private account setting, teens will need to accept new followers and only people whom they accept as followers can see their content and interact with them.

In addition, teen users will now automatically only be able to message with people they follow, or are already connected to, and parents will have a new tool in their settings that allows them to see with whom their teen has recently been messaging.

With the new accounts, teens will have the power to choose the age-appropriate topics they want to see more of on Instagram, like sports or art, and parents will also be able to see the topics their teens choose.

In order to limit the amount of time spent on Instagram, all Teen Accounts will be placed in "sleep mode" between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., while parents can also adjust their child's time settings -- including limiting access completely overnight -- in the parental supervision tool.

Another change for Teen Accounts is that they will automatically be placed in more restrictive content settings, which will limit the content they see in search functions like Reels or Explore from accounts they don't follow, according to Instagram.

Mosseri said Instagram has protections in place to block teens from lying about their age, including requiring teens to verify their age if they try to change their birthday and not allowing new accounts with different birthdays from the same device.

Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of safety for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, told "GMA" the company is also implementing new ways to verify users' ages.

"We are building technology to try to identify if you've lied about your age and then move you into those stricter settings," Davis said. "This is a challenging area for industry, which is why, on top of building that technology that will try to identify age liars and put them into those protective settings, we also will have moments where, if we get a strong signal, we will ask you to age verify."

Davis said that parents will be able to monitor their teens' account and adjust their settings from their own Instagram accounts.

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'The idea is to really make it simpler, so they [parents] have their own center that they can go and look and see what the privacy setting is for their teen," she said.

Changes spurred by parents and teens

The changes for teen Instagram users come amid mounting evidence showing the dangers of social media for young users.

Social media use is linked with symptoms of depression and anxiety, body image issues, and lower life satisfaction for some teens and adolescents, research shows. Heavy social media use around the time adolescents go through puberty is linked with lower life satisfaction one year later, one large study found.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who previously issued an advisory highlighting a crisis in youth mental health, has said he believes being on social media "does a disservice" to kids early in their teen years. Noting the crisis among kids, the American Psychological Association last year issued the first guidance of its kind to help teens use social media safely.

In January, while testifying at a Senate hearing, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, publicly apologized to parents, caregivers and loved ones of young people who they say were harmed due to social media use, telling them, "It's terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered."

In his apology, Zuckerberg also emphasized Meta's efforts on safety, adding, "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 things your families have had to suffer."

Both Mosseri and Davis said the newly-announced changes to Instagram for teen users came after conversations with parents and teenagers around the world.

"I think we have a responsibility to make sure that Instagram is a safe place for teens to explore their interests and connect with their friends," Mosseri said. "But this change is really focused not on any litigations, but on parental concerns."

Mosseri added that Instagram views parents as the company's "north star."

"They've been clear and what they're most concerned about, and we're trying to proactively address those concerns without requiring their involvement," he said of parents. "But if a parent wants to get involved, we've also built some robust tools to allow them to shape the experience into what's most appropriate for their teen, because at the end of the day, a parent always knows what's best for their child."

Parents and caregivers as well as teens can learn more about Teen Accounts by visiting Instagram.com/teenaccounts.