We launched Instagram Teen Accounts last year to better support parents, and give them peace of mind that their teens have the right protections in place. This reimagined experience has built-in protections that limit who can contact teens, the content they see and the time they spend online. Teens are automatically placed in these protective settings, and teens under 16 need parental or guardian approval to make changes. Now, we’re announcing additional steps we’re taking to ensure as many teens as possible benefit from these new protections.
Parents Tell Us that Teen Accounts are Helpful
We’ve enrolled at least 54 million teens into Teen Accounts globally so far, with 97% of teens ages 13-15 electing to remain in these protections, and we recently expanded the Teen Account experience to Facebook and Messenger.
Parents and teens alike are telling us that they are happy with this new, reimagined experience. And although over 90% of parents surveyed say the new Teen Account protections are helpful in supporting their teens on Instagram, we’re continuing to listen to parents who are concerned about how overwhelming the internet can be when it comes to making sure teens have age-appropriate experiences.
Parents’ Call to Action
Starting today, we’ll begin sending notifications to parents on Instagram with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online. We worked with experts like pediatric psychologist Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart to share tips on how to have these conversations, and to check and confirm their teens’ ages on our apps.
The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it. That’s why it’s important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Accounts.
New Technology to Find Suspected Teens and Place Them in Teen Accounts Settings
Parents are busy and don’t always have the time to review these settings. That’s why we’re continuing to take additional steps to ensure as many teens as possible are in Teen Account settings. Today, we’re beginning to test AI technology in the US that is designed to proactively find accounts we suspect belong to teens, even if the account lists an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account settings. (Updated on April 21, 2025 at 6:15AM PT.)
We’ve been using artificial intelligence to help determine age ranges for some time, but leveraging it in this way is a big change. We’re taking steps to ensure our technology is accurate and that we are correctly placing teens we identify into protective, age-appropriate settings, but in case we make a mistake, we’re giving people the option to change their settings. You can read more about the work we are doing to ensure teens do not misrepresent their age here. (Updated on April 21, 2025 at 6:15AM PT.)
Understanding the age of people online is an industry-wide challenge. We’ll continue our efforts to help ensure teens are placed in age-appropriate online experiences, like Teen Accounts, but the most effective way to understand age is by obtaining parental approval and verifying age on the app store.
