"Teen Accounts"

Instagram introduces user accounts for minors

According to Meta, "teen accounts" offer increased privacy protection and better control options for parents.(Bild: Meta)

In response to growing political pressure, Instagram is introducing special user accounts for minors. These offer increased privacy protection and better control options for parents, the online network of the Internet company Meta announced on Tuesday.

The innovations will initially be introduced in North America, the UK and Australia, with the European Union (EU) to follow by the end of the year and the remaining countries at the beginning of 2025. The accounts of all users under the age of 18 will automatically be converted into "Teen Accounts", Meta added.

Set as private by default
These "Teen Accounts" are set as private by default. Teenagers could only be contacted by other users and tagged and mentioned in content if they were already following them. The most restrictive setting is automatically selected when displaying sensitive content.

Users under the age of 16 also require parental consent to change the default settings. They could also restrict access to Instagram using the "Parental Controls" function. Regardless of this, teenagers would be reminded to close the app after 60 minutes of use per day. "Notifications are automatically muted at night."

Hundreds of lawsuits against Instagram & Co.
In the USA alone, hundreds of lawsuits are being brought against Instagram, TikTok and YouTube because these online networks are addictive to minors. According to studies, they also promote depression, anxiety and learning problems.

Two bills have therefore been introduced in the US Congress to improve the protection of minors on the internet. In the European Union (EU), this is to be ensured by the Digital Services Act (DSA). Many of the platforms accept users from the age of 13.