Instagram has announced the introduction of teen accounts in India, a move aimed at enhancing safety measures on the platform, which has over 350 million users in the country.
Meta first launched these accounts last year in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. Accounts of users under 16 were automatically migrated to these teen accounts. These accounts are private by default and include features such as messaging restrictions, content controls, time limits, and a "sleep mode."
Natasha Jog, Instagram's Director of Public Policy in India, said: "At Meta, creating a safer and more responsible digital environment is a top priority. By expanding Instagram Teen Accounts to India, we are strengthening protections, enhancing content controls, and empowering parents while ensuring a safer experience for teens."
Teen accounts prevent users from changing certain settings without parental permission. Parents can also activate account supervision for users over 16.
Parents can see whom their children interact with but cannot view the content of messages. They can set daily usage limits and block the app during specific hours.
Regarding content, Meta allows teens to receive messages only from people they are connected to. Teens can only be tagged by people they follow. Offensive words and phrases are automatically filtered, and content promoting fighting or cosmetic products is removed from the Explore page.
Teens can personalize their Explore page by selecting topics such as soccer, crafts, dance, music, cats, food, and computer science.
Meta uses methods such as ID verification and video selfies to verify users' ages, as teens often lie about their age on digital platforms.
India recently released draft rules related to its data protection law, outlining that companies cannot process the data of users under 18 without verifiable parental consent. Platforms may need to adopt additional safety measures if these rules are finalized.
