Meta’s social media platform Instagram is rolling out “Teen Accounts” for 13-to-17-year-olds across the Asia-Pacific region this week, with the new rules taking effect in Taiwan yesterday, the company said in a news release.
The new rules set the Instagram profiles of users under 16 as private by default, it said.
Parental permission is required to create a public profile, it added.
Photo: Reuters
Private accounts only allow users who have been accepted by the account holder as “followers” to interact with the account or view their information.
The policy applies to new and existing accounts, and would affect millions of teenagers in the Asia-Pacific region, Meta said.
Those aged 16 and 17 who open new accounts would also have their profiles automatically set to private, although they may choose to switch to public profiles, it said.
The Teen Accounts have safety measures designed to address parental concerns about teenagers’ prolonged use of the app, viewing of sensitive information and ability to message strangers, Meta said.
To limit the possibility of young people giving an incorrect date of birth to bypass the new measures, Instagram would ask minors to undergo age verification checks, it said.
Teen Accounts would also filter out sensitive or graphic images from the “explore” page and Reels, Instagram’s short-form video platform, including violent content and promotions of plastic surgery, Meta said.
Once a Teen Account has been used for 60 minutes in a day, a notification would be sent to close the application, it said.
Between the hours of 10pm and 7am, the accounts would automatically switch to “sleep mode,” silencing notifications, sending automatic message replies and displaying reminders to close the app, it said.
Meta said it would notify existing accounts before they are switched to “Teen Accounts” as the measures are gradually rolled out in the coming months.
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