Mr Viral
WEBWIRE – Thursday, April 24, 2025
Takeaways
As we continue to expand Teen Accounts, we want to make sure as many teens as possible are enrolled.
Were notifying parents on Instagram with information about the importance of their teens providing the correct ages online, and tips to check and confirm their teens ages together.
Parents dont have to go it alone were using AI to help place suspected teens into Teen Accounts settings.
We launched Instagram Teen Accounts ast 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, were announcing additional steps were taking to ensure as many teens as possible benefit from these new protections.
Parents Tell Us that Teen Accounts are Helpful
Weve 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, were 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
Well 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. Thats why its 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
Parents are busy and dont always have the time to review these settings. Thats why were continuing to take additional steps to ensure as many teens as possible are in Teen Account settings. Were beginning to test AI technology in the US that will proactively find accounts we suspect belong to teens, even if the account lists an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account settings.
Weve been using artificial intelligence to determine age for some time, but leveraging it in this way is a big change. Were 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, were 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
Understanding the age of people online is an industry-wide challenge. Well 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
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