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FOR PARENTS

Helping your teen navigate Instagram safely

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We have developed more than 50 tools, features and resources that help teens have safe, positive experiences.

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META FAMILY CENTER

Family Center can help you support your teen’s Instagram experience.

Updated Instagram safety feature that restricts messages to teens from people who do not follow them. Shows Instagram Messenger UI that blocks the text box and reads “You can’t message this account unless they follow you.

Restricting DMs

We restrict people over 19 years old from sending private messages to teens who don’t follow them. If an adult tries to message a teen who doesn’t follow that adult, the adult will receive a notification that DM’ing isn’t an option.

Account privacy UI setting that reads “Choose who can see what you share. You can change this anytime in Settings.” Below the options to choose a private or public account denoting Private accounts require the user to approve follow requests to see an account’s photos or videos, or to choose a public account that allows anyone to see photos or videos.

Defaulting to Private Accounts

Every teen who is under 16 years old (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private account when they join Instagram. Private accounts let people control who sees or responds to their content. If you have a private account, people have to follow you to see your posts, Stories and Reels unless you choose to allow others to reshare your content. People also can’t comment on your content in those places.

Instagram account privacy toggle option panel

Managing Privacy

We make it more difficult for adults who have been exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior to interact with teens, by restricting these adults from seeing teen accounts in ‘Suggested Users’ and preventing them from discovering teen content in Reels or Explore.

Managing Comments

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.

Manage your time on Instagram by setting a reminder

Managing Time

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.

Manage your sensitive content controls in settings

Managing Sensitive Content

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.

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Safety Milestones

Supporting teens and their parents is one of our most important priorities. We’ve taken steps over the past several years to increase safety and protection for young people on Instagram.

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Learn more about Safety at Instagram