Instagram to now make all teen accounts private, restrict certain content

If you’ve had worries about your teen being on social media, you’re not alone, as parents across the country have been looking for extra protections for their kids when they’re online.

For those concerned, Instagram appears to be listening , as the social media site shared on Tuesday a sweeping overhaul to teen accounts that will offer more protection and give parents more control.

According to the company, all teen accounts will now automatically be set to private, only allowing those accepted to view what they are posting. Teen accounts will also have stricter messaging settings, ensuring they can only be messaged by people they follow or are connected to.

Other changes to messages include a filter for offensive words that will automatically hide and restrict content deemed inappropriate. Teens will also see their accounts have more restrictive content settings that limit what they see from accounts they don’t follow. They will also only be able to be tagged or mentioned in posts by accounts they already follow.

The changes are expected to go into place in the U.S. as soon as this week, with accounts at least being notified, and worldwide in January. Overall, 100 million accounts are expected to be impacted by the change.

“I think over the long run, it’s going to be in our interest as a business to earn more trust from parents,” Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri told Axios in an interview . “Parents — at the end of the day — they get to make decisions.”

The new settings will apply to all teen users ages 18 and under, but teens 16 and under will require parental permission to move to less restrictive settings.

Mosseri said that the decision to have a different level of restrictions for older teens came after years of research and consulting experts, parents, and others.

“It felt a little strange to have the exact same system for a 17-year-old, who can drive a car at night, and a 13-year-old, who can’t see an R-rated movie without a parent,” Mosseri said.

For those who think they’ll be able to get around the protections by lying about their age, Instagram shared that it is now implementing new ways to verify users’ age. This will include providing a government-issued ID or facial scans. Some other methods will depend on the country in which users live.

Mosseri said that teens and their parents or guardians will have to mutually agree to them being the supervisor of their account, as there is “no good way to do that at scale.”

Parents will be given tools that let them view their teen’s messaging, though they won’t be able to see what is being sent, just who they are sending it to. They can also view the content topics teens see on their Explore page.

While Mosseri acknowledged there could be issues, he thinks it’s an important step in the right direction.

“The system isn’t perfect,” Mosseri said. “I think it’s a huge step forward.”