Meta has announced the expansion of their Teen Accounts initiative to Facebook and Messenger, providing younger users with built-in protections designed to foster a safer experience online. Initially introduced to Instagram last September in response to heightened scrutiny from legislators about youth safety concerns, the Teen Accounts system is now being rolled out for users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, with plans for future global adoption.
Under these Teen Accounts, teenagers will automatically be placed into a restricted mode that aims to minimize exposure to inappropriate content and reduce unwanted interactions. While teens below the age of 16 will need parental approval to adjust or remove any of the applied settings, they will still enjoy significant autonomy in navigating the platforms within these predefined boundaries.
Meta clarified through communications that specific limitations for teens include restrictions allowing messaging exclusively from individuals they follow or have already had interactions with. Teens’ stories will similarly be visible and available for reply only to confirmed friends. Tagging, commenting, and mentioning will be similarly confined to users within their communities of trusted contacts.
Additional safeguards include daily usage reminders after teens spend an hour on a platform, encouraging users to disengage. The accounts automatically activate “Quiet mode” during nighttime hours, promoting healthier digital behavior.
Separately, Instagram is enhancing its protocols, further tightening restrictions for users under 16. Among these new measures is the necessity for younger teens to secure parental consent before going live. Furthermore, teens must now obtain permission from parents before disabling the app’s feature that automatically blurs images suspected to contain nudity in direct messages.
Meta emphasized the popularity and effectiveness of Teen Accounts on Instagram, reporting that more than 54 million adolescent users have already transitioned into these safer settings worldwide, with 97% of users aged 13-15 choosing to maintain those built-in protections. A commissioned survey by Ipsos, cited by the company, indicated substantial parental support for these measures, with 94% of parents finding Teen Accounts helpful and 85% believing they enhance positive social media engagement for their children.
This latest development represents another step by Meta to address longstanding concerns around adolescent mental health and safety on social media. These concerns have drawn significant attention from public health authorities, including statements from the U.S. Surgeon General and regulatory initiatives from various state governments aimed at restricting unsupervised teen interaction with social platforms.
