Meta to expand Instagram Teen Accounts in India

Meta has announced the rollout of Instagram Teen Accounts in India, reinforcing its commitment to online safety for young users.

The phased rollout aims to provide a safer and age-appropriate digital space for teenagers. These accounts come with built-in protections to enhance privacy, limit unwanted interactions, and give parents greater control, addressing concerns such as cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and privacy risks.

"At Meta, fostering a safer and more responsible digital environment is a priority. Expanding Instagram Teen Accounts to India strengthens protections, enhances content controls, and empowers parents while ensuring a safer experience for teenagers," said Natasha Jog, Director, Public Policy India, Instagram.

A key feature of Teen Accounts is that they are set to private by default, requiring users to approve new followers. Non-followers cannot view or interact with their content. This applies to users under 16 and those under 18 when signing up.

Messaging settings are also more restrictive, allowing teens to receive messages only from people they follow or are already connected with. Their exposure to sensitive content, such as physical fights or cosmetic procedure promotions, is also minimized in Explore and Reels.

Additionally, teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow, and the strongest version of the Hidden Words anti-bullying feature is enabled by default to filter offensive language in comments and DM requests.

To encourage healthy screen habits, teenagers will receive notifications to exit the app after 60 minutes of daily usage. A sleep mode, active from 10 PM to 7 AM, will mute notifications and send automatic replies to DMs overnight.

Parental supervision tools allow guardians to monitor and manage their teen’s Instagram experience, including approving safety setting changes and setting daily screen-time limits. Users under 16 will need parental approval to make settings less restrictive, and soon, parents will be able to adjust these settings directly for added protection.