Meta introduces 'teen accounts' to enhance safety on Instagram

On 17th September, the owner of Instagram, Meta, announced that profiles of individuals under 18 will be automatically converted into "teen accounts" within 60 days. The change initially applies to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. By the end of the year, these changes are expected to be introduced in the European Union as well. New profiles created after 17th September by people under 18 will automatically become "teen accounts."

Tech giants like Meta, ByteDance (owner of TikTok), and Google, which owns YouTube, face numerous lawsuits filed on behalf of children and school districts over the addictive nature of social media and insufficient protection for young users. According to Reuters, last year 33 states in the United States, including California and New York, sued Meta, owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, for misleading the public about the dangers associated with its platforms.

Meta's response to these accusations is "teen accounts." All profiles owned by individuals under 18 will automatically be private accounts. Private messages will only come from people who are followed, and the same will apply to tagging in photos and comments. The content displayed in the Explore tab and Reels will be moderated. From 22:00 to 07:00, notifications will not work, and every 60 minutes, Teen Accounts will display information about limiting account usage time.

To change the settings, as mentioned earlier, individuals under 16 will need parental consent. Meta stated: "To get permission, teenagers must set up parental supervision on Instagram. Parents who want more oversight of their older teenagers' experiences (16+) must simply enable parental supervision. They can then approve any changes to these settings, regardless of the teenager's age."

Will these changes better protect teenagers online? It's rather a PR move by Meta. According to datareportal.com, in 2024, only a few percent of Instagram users will be under 18. Teenagers and even younger children primarily use TikTok today. Both apps are theoretically intended for individuals 13 years and older, but verification is done through the birth date entered by the user.

The best protection for young people online is parental interest in the content they are watching. A compromise between "social exclusion" of teenagers over 13 by completely banning the use of social media and lack of supervision could be allowing their use with the condition that parents have access passwords to accounts and profiles. Not to monitor every move of young people, but so that both they and their friends are aware that guardians have access to the content they exchange.