Meta on Tuesday said it is bringing Instagram Teen Accounts in India in a phased manner, which will ensure built-in protections for children under 18 using the app.
Teen Accounts limit unwanted interactions, enhance privacy settings, and provide parents with greater oversight, the company said in a blog.
Teen Accounts were initially launched in September last year in the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada, and the European Union.
This comes as parents, educators, and policymakers have voiced concerns over issues like cyberbullying, children exposure to harmful content, and privacy risks.
Meta said Instagram’s Teen Accounts address these concerns by automatically placing all teens in the highest safety settings, empowering them with better tools to navigate the digital world securely.
“At Meta, creating a safer and more responsible digital environment is a top priority. With the expansion of Instagram Teen Accounts to India, we are strengthening protections, enhancing content controls, and empowering parents, while ensuring a safer experience for teens,” said Natasha Jog, director of public policy India at Instagram.
The Teen Account protections are specifically designed to tackle key concerns parents have, such as who their teens interact with online, the type of content they are exposed to, and how they manage their time on the platform. The company said these safeguards are enabled by default, and for users under 16, any adjustments to make settings less restrictive would require parental approval.
Instagram will automatically make all new and existing accounts of people aged 13-17 private. The company will automatically enable sleep mode between 10 pm and 7 am, which will mute notifications overnight, and send auto-replies to any direct messages they receive.
Teens will receive notifications prompting them to exit the app after 60 minutes of daily usage, the company said.
Parents will also have the option to block their teens from using Instagram at specific time periods with a single button and also set daily time limits, after which the teen will no longer be able to access the app.
