Introducing Instagram’s Teen Accounts: A System of Account Control for Users Under 18 – Featuring Anti-age Fraud Mechanisms

Instagram has announced an overhaul of the account system for users under the age of 18, introducing a new format known as Teen Accounts. Previously, Instagram adjusted settings for users within this age bracket, but now all accounts will automatically be switched to Teen Accounts.

The concept behind Teen Accounts is to provide parents with a greater sense of ease when adolescents use social media to connect with friends and view appropriate, engaging, and positive content.

Teen Accounts come with pre-set limitations that can be adjusted if needed, with parental approval required for minors under the age of 16. These restrictions include:

– Private account setting
– Direct Messaging limited to followers or existing conversations
– Restricted content displayed in Reels and Explore
– Tagging and mentions limited to followers
– Notification after 60 minutes of daily usage
– Sleep mode with no alerts between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM and automated DM responses

Additionally, Instagram has introduced the Supervision feature for parents of users, allowing control over various aspects such as viewing 7-day DM history (without message content), setting daily usage limits, restricting certain timeframes for Instagram use, and viewing selected interest settings.

While some may think they can circumvent these safety measures by falsifying their age, Instagram has implemented an AI system that verifies age in multiple ways, scanning for potentially fraudulent age entries. Those caught will be switched to Teen Accounts. This system will begin testing in the US early next year.

The implementation of Teen Accounts will commence in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia within 60 days, followed by the EU this year, and globally by January next year. Instagram plans to extend this tool to other Meta social platforms (Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp) next year as well.

TLDR: Instagram introduces Teen Accounts for users under 18, providing enhanced safety measures and parental controls. The AI age verification system will roll out soon, starting in the US.