Published: 17 September 2024
Introduction
We’re introducing Teen Accounts on Instagram. Teen Accounts have built-in protections that limit who can contact them and the content they see. These accounts also provide new ways for teens to explore their interests.
Starting September 17, we’ll automatically place teens into Teen Accounts on Instagram, and teens under 16 need a parent’s permission to change any of their account settings to be less strict. If parents want more oversight over their older teen's (16+) experiences, they simply have to set up parental supervision. These settings apply to teens already using Instagram and to teens signing up to the app. You can find a full overview of Teen Accounts in our announcement.
We worked tirelessly and thoughtfully to build Teen Accounts. We’re proud of our work to reimagine the app for teens, and we’ve made many important design decisions along the way. We want to be transparent about these decisions and explain how our research and consultation with experts informed them – so we’re sharing a detailed overview of our efforts in this report, which is available for download below.
Informing our approach with research and consultation
Our research and close consultation with academics, parents, teens, and other stakeholders continue to inform how we build safe, age-appropriate experiences for young people.
We are in regular consultation with Meta’s Youth Advisors and Safety Advisory Council, which include third-party experts and professionals in diverse fields, including online safety, privacy, media literacy, wellness, and social and emotional health. In developing Teen Accounts, we also consulted with stakeholders to understand their perspectives and to inform our approach.
Further, since 2018, Trust, Transparency and Control Labs has consulted with more than 600 stakeholders, 300 teens and 270 parents from more than 35 countries to inform a number of the safety and privacy features of Meta technologies. This program produces one set of learnings, in addition to internal user experience (UX) research and external consultation, that helps Meta develop age-appropriate experiences for teens that preserve their access to online connection and community.
We also evaluate external guidance from governmental bodies and children's rights groups as we determine the best ways to create digital experiences for young people. As we build our understanding of how to apply this guidance, we are committed to continuing research and consultation so that we can build positive experiences for the youngest people using our technologies.
Download our report below which details our research and consultation insights alongside actions that Meta has taken to inform the development of Teen Accounts on Instagram.
