"I'm born in 2007, becoming a high school senior. Starting in 2025 Instagram accounts become private and parents can supposedly see who their child DMs — will that really happen?"
"I'm born in 2008. I'm still 16 and I use Instagram without my parents knowing. Will my parents now be able to see everything I do on Instagram? I heard usage time can be limited too."
"I'm a mom with a daughter born in 2010. I think my kid uses Instagram and seems to be seeing strange things. I heard that starting this year Instagram lets you see even the texts your child wrote, for teens — is that right?"
Looking at online communities like Naver Knowledge iN, questions about Instagram's "teen account (accounts for those in their teens)" policy have been pouring in since last September. That's because starting with the US last September, Meta began restricting some features for teen users of Instagram.
According to Meta Korea on the 1st, domestic teens aged 14 to 18 will face some restrictions on Instagram use starting mid this month. When signing up, the account is set to private by default, and they can only message other users they already follow. Guardians such as parents can also limit their Instagram usage time.
Once set as a teen account, along with switching the account to private, guardians can manage ▲messages ▲tags/mentions/content remixes ▲content containing sensitive material ▲restricted usage mode ▲daily time limits, and more. Teen users need guardian consent to turn these features off.
Tags/mentions are automatically set to only be allowed from people they follow. Content remixes are also only available between people who follow each other. For teen account users, content containing sensitive material is automatically set to appear less in search results, the Explore tab, Reels, and feed recommendations.
Restricted usage mode refers to banning use during a specific time window. It defaults to 10 PM to 7 AM daily and can be adjusted at the guardian's discretion. During the set time window, teen users cannot receive any activity notifications from Instagram.
Daily time limit refers to limiting total usage time. It's set by default so that a notification (daily time limit) telling them to close the app appears if Instagram is used continuously for more than 1 hour a day. Depending on the guardian's settings, the app can be force-closed.
In addition, guardians can also check the list of people the teen user has messaged with over the past 7 days.However, for privacy protection, they cannot see the actual content of the conversations.
Instagram implemented this policy to prevent excessive use of social networking services (SNS) by teens. Excessive SNS use by teens has recently emerged as a social issue. According to a survey published by the Ministry of Education last December, 36.8% of respondents said that time spent on smartphones or SNS interferes with their daily life, such as studying or relationships. That means 1 in 3 teens said their smartphone/SNS use interfered with their studies or daily life.
Instagram can't avoid criticism that it has caused excessive SNS use. In Korea, it's said that teens favor Instagram DMs over KakaoTalk. According to Mobile Index, Instagram ranked No. 1 in app installs among teens last year. From January to November last year, new Instagram app installs by teen smartphone users reached 3.38 million.
As voices emphasizing SNS's social responsibility grew both domestically and internationally, Instagram preemptively moved to self-regulate. Priyanka Vala, Meta's Asia Pacific (APAC) safety policy lead, said at an event last November that they introduced the "teen account" policy after confirming that parents worldwide commonly wanted ▲their children not to be connected with someone in an online environment they don't want ▲to be able to check whether the content their children are viewing is safe ▲to have their children's usage time on online services limited.
However, not all teens are restricted in their Instagram use. Teens aged 17-18 are excluded from mandatory account management/supervision. If a guardian hasn't set up management/supervision, their accounts can be switched to public even without guardian consent.
But if a guardian wants to set up management/supervision, teens aged 17-18 are also restricted in their service use under the "teen account" policy. To set up management/supervision, both the teen and the guardian must agree to the supervision invitation.
Vala explained the reason for differentiating by age at an event last November. She said that for teens under 17, "parents or guardians need to give (relatively) more guidance," while for teens 17 and older, "they should be given autonomy online and the opportunity to explore independence."
