Meta is introducing new built-in restrictions for teens on Instagram and expanding the existing ones on Facebook and Messenger. The American social media giant made the announcement on its blog post.

  • Last year, Meta launched teen accounts on Instagram, which are mandatory for users under the age of 18. These accounts have a number of built-in security features. For example, they are private by default and strangers cannot send them messages. Parental permission is required to change these settings.
  • Now, teen accounts are being expanded to Facebook and Messenger "to give parents more peace of mind across Meta apps." THe company will roll out first in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, and later in other regions.
  • Instagram is also introducing new built-in protections - now, teens under 16 will not be able to start an online broadcast or view images marked as "sensitive content" (such photos will initially appear blurry). They will need parental permission to do so.
  • Meta claims that as of September, 54 million users worldwide are using teen accounts. And they expect that number to grow as they continue to roll out such accounts around the world. The companies also commissioned a study showing that 94% of parents believe that teen accounts are useful.

As a reminder, on April 7, Meta discontinued its long-running fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads for users in the United States, and instead introduced Community Notes, a crowdsourcing tool similar to the one already in place on the X platform.