Instagram is taking steps to enhance the safety of its platform for children by making teen accounts private by default. Starting in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, individuals under 18 signing up for Instagram will be placed into restrictive teen accounts, with existing accounts set to be migrated over the next 60 days. The European Union will see similar adjustments later this year.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, acknowledges the potential for teenagers to misrepresent their ages and plans to implement measures to verify ages more rigorously. The company is developing technology to identify teen accounts posing as adults and automatically switch them to restricted teen accounts.
