Attention is turning to the role young people play in shaping the country’s future, alongside growing conversations about their safety, wellbeing and development in digital spaces.
In this context, Meta is advancing a broader approach to teen online safety, focused on creating more supportive, age-appropriate experiences across its platforms. The aim is to help foster safer, more positive digital environments where teens can connect, learn and express themselves with greater protection and guidance while easing the burden on busy parents by giving them helpful tools to supervise their teens online.
At the centre of this approach are Teen Accounts, a purpose-built experience designed for younger users, featuring built-in safeguards and parental supervision tools. These features are designed to address key concerns raised by parents and guardians about how teens engage online, while supporting healthier digital habits from the outset.
Here are 10 ways Teen Accounts are helping create safer and more positive online experiences for young people:
1. Teen Accounts are private by default
Teen Accounts automatically come with private settings enabled. This means teens must approve new followers, and people who don’t follow them cannot view or interact with their content. And with Teen Accounts, teens under 16 need a parent’s permission to change any settings to be less strict.
2. Stricter messaging controls reduce unwanted contact
Teen Accounts are automatically placed in the strictest messaging settings, allowing messages only from people teens already follow or are connected to.
3. Sensitive content is limited automatically
Teens are automatically enrolled in Teen Accounts and defaulted into Meta’s 13+ content settings, which are guided by PG-13 movie standards. These settings help create a more age-appropriate experience by limiting exposure to sensitive content such as violence, graphic imagery or content promoting cosmetic procedures. Teens also won’t be able to follow, message or see accounts that regularly share age-inappropriate content, or whose profile photo, name or bio suggests the account may not be suitable for younger users.
4. Protections against bullying are built in
Meta automatically enables its strongest anti-bullying protections for Teen Accounts. Hidden Words filters offensive language from comments and message requests, helping create a more positive experience.
5. Tagging and mentions are more controlled
To reduce unwanted interactions, teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they already follow.
6. Screen time reminders encourage healthier habits
After 60 minutes of daily usage, teens receive reminders encouraging them to take a break from the app and spend time offline.
7. Sleep Mode supports better digital wellbeing
Teen Accounts automatically switch to Sleep Mode between 22h00 and 07h00, muting notifications and sending automatic replies to direct messages overnight.
8. Parents can see with whom their teens are chatting
While parents cannot read their teen’s messages, supervision tools allow them to view whom their teen has messaged over the previous seven days, creating greater transparency while respecting privacy.
9. Parents can set time limits and usage schedules
Parents can establish daily Instagram usage limits and block access during specific times such as school hours, study periods or overnight.
10. Family Centre gives parents resources and support
Meta’s Family Centre brings all parental tools across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger into one hub, so parents can manage and supervise their teen’s experiences more easily. Parents also get new insights into their teen’s Instagram algorithm and the topics that shape it, helping them have more informed conversations about online safety.
Building safer digital experiences together
Teen Accounts are designed to help parents feel more confident about their teens’ online experiences while empowering young people to connect, create and discover content in age-appropriate ways.
Combined with parental supervision tools, Family Centre resources and digital literacy initiatives, Teen Accounts represent Meta’s ongoing commitment to creating safer online spaces for young people and their families.
Main image credit: Magnific
