Helping your teen navigate Instagram safely

Help your teen avoid unwanted interactions by encouraging them to use "Comment Controls". Our reporting and blocking tools also allow them to manage who can comment on their posts. We also make it more difficult for adults who have been exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior to interact with teens, by automatically hiding their comments on public posts by teens.

Help your teen manage their time on Instagram by using features in the Activity Dashboard, such as daily reminders and mute push notifications. You can also use the Family Center to see how much time they’re spending on Instagram, and set limits.

We restrict DMs between teens (under 18) and adults they don’t follow. When an adult tries to message a teen who doesn’t follow them, they receive a notification that DM’ing that teen isn’t an option. For adults and teens who are already connected (ie., one account follows the other) we send safety notices encouraging teens to be cautious in conversations with adults who have exhibited potentially suspicious behavior.

We default new teens under 16 into the “Less” setting of our Sensitive Content Control, which limits teens’ exposure to potentially sensitive content. Your teen can also make changes to this setting. Work with them to visit their profile, and tap the settings menu in the upper right corner. Tap Settings, Account, then select Sensitive Content Control. Tap next to “Less” to see less content they may find upsetting. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to provide a safer experience for young people.