All teenagers addicted to Insta Reels who are under the age of 16 will no longer be able to go live and will not be able to disable filters that block unwanted images in messages without parental permission.
The measures were announced on Friday at the Teen Safety Forum organized by Meta India in New Delhi.
“Young people deserve a safe, age-appropriate online experience, and these updates are part of our long-term commitment to building platforms that put their well-being first,” said Tara Hopkins, global director of public policy at Instagram.
More than 54 million teens worldwide use Instagram’s teen accounts, which launched last September. According to Hopkins, at least 97% of teens aged 13 to 15 still stay within the protective settings designed by the platform.
In February of this year, Meta offered teen accounts in India. The next phase of safety initiatives will offer young people a safe and age-appropriate experience, and give parents more control and oversight over their children’s online activities.
Speaking to FE, Hopkins added: “If someone is under the age of 18 but already registered on Instagram, we automatically put them into a teen account mode. Over the next few months in India, they will receive notifications about this. We will explain what this means, what the restrictions are in terms of content, contacts, time, etc. to be transparent with them about how much autonomy they will have. If someone has recently joined Instagram, they will be automatically included in the teen accounts.”
She continued: “Teen authors on Instagram also get access to a teen account. But because we didn’t want to alienate them, we gave them advance notice before making this change to establish parental oversight of their accounts – this could be a parent, guardian, or their management agency.”
Said Otaru, Director of Product Management and Wellbeing at Instagram, said at the event: “Parents don’t want their teenagers to interact with strangers and see age-inappropriate content. They want their children to spend their time with content. We are helping them do that and using artificial intelligence to bring these features to life.”
He added that all the features for teen accounts will be launched in India by the end of June. Responding to parents’ concerns about bullying, Hopkins added that Meta has a team that monitors emoji usage and analyzes whether any emoji is being used for bullying or harassment. “Kids want to have the right to privacy, and parents want safety and security. We’re trying very hard to strike that balance,” Hopkins said.
Twinkle Khanna, founder of Tweak India, who headlined the event, said: “Social media is an incredible tool, but it can also be overwhelming, especially for teens. As a parent, I know how difficult it can be to find the right balance between giving teens freedom and keeping them safe online.”
