Instagram is revamping the way it works for teenagers, promising to create more firewalls and add control and ‘reassurance’ ways for parents.

In the new “teen accounts” for 13- to 15-year-olds, according to the BBC, many privacy settings will already be set by default and will not be up to the individual child to choose.

Teens’ posts will be private, meaning someone who doesn’t follow them won’t be able to see them, and they themselves will have to approve all new followers.

These settings can only be changed if control is given to a parent or guardian or when the child turns 16.

Social media companies are under global pressure to make their platforms safer as concerns are raised that not enough is being done to shield young people from harmful content.

The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) described the announcement as “a step in the right direction” but added that Instagram’s owning company, Meta, “appeared to place emphasis on the fact that children and parents they should protect themselves.”

What are the changes?

Teen accounts will mostly change how Instagram works for users between the ages of 13 and 15, with some settings turned on by default.

These include strict controls on sensitive content to prevent recommendations of potentially harmful material and muting notifications during the night.

Accounts will also be set to private rather than public by default. This means that teens will have to actively accept new followers and their content cannot be viewed by people who don’t follow them.

Parents who choose to supervise their child’s account will be able to see who they’re messaging and what they’re interested in, though they won’t be able to see the content of the messages.

Instagram said it will begin converting the accounts of millions of teens who are already users to the new ones within 60 days of being notified of the changes.

Age recognition

The system will primarily rely on users being honest about their age, although Instagram already has tools that seek to verify a user’s age if there are suspicions they are not telling the truth.

From January in the US, it will also start using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to try to proactively identify teens using adult accounts and switch them back to a teen account.

The UK’s Online Safety Act, passed earlier this year, requires online platforms to take action to keep children safe or face huge fines.

Social media industry analyst Matt Navarra described the changes as significant – but said they depended on enforcement.

“As we’ve seen with teenagers throughout history, in these kinds of scenarios, they’ll find a way to get past the ‘squares’ if they can,” he told the BBC.

“So I think Instagram should make sure the new rules can’t be easily circumvented by more savvy teenagers.”