Instagram adds more safety features for teen users in India: Instagram has expanded its Teen Accounts feature to India after launching it in countries like the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia. This update comes in celebration of Safer Internet Day. The goal is to protect teenagers from harmful content, limit interactions with strangers, and help them manage their time on the app.
With this new feature, all accounts for users under 16 will automatically be set to private. This means only approved followers can see their posts. Teenagers will also have stricter messaging rules, allowing chats only with people they already follow or know. Instagram is also filtering out harmful or violent content to create a safer space for young users.
Parents will have more control, too. For users under 16, any changes to safety settings will need parental approval. Parents of 16-year-olds and older can choose to enable supervision. These tools let parents monitor recent chats, set screen time limits, and block Instagram access during specific hours.
Instagram is also introducing reminders for teens to take breaks after 60 minutes of usage. A "sleep mode" will mute notifications between 10 PM and 7 AM. Additionally, Instagram is improving its age verification system to prevent young users from entering false birthdates to bypass restrictions.
Teen accounts come with special safety features to protect young users. These features help parents feel at ease by controlling who teens can interact with, what content they see, and how much time they spend on the platform. These protections are turned on automatically. If a user is under 16, they cannot make the settings less strict without a parent's permission.
Meta’s Public Policy Director for Instagram India, Natasha Jog, said, "At Meta, keeping teens safe online is a top priority. By expanding Instagram’s Teen Accounts to India, we are strengthening protections, improving content controls, and giving parents more tools to support their children."