Many on Instagram users can expect to receive a notification Monday as Instagram parent company Meta rolls out more parental supervision tools.
The Instagram notification is specifically for Illinois parents of teens, Meta said in an announcement, as part of a plan from the social media giant to ensure "teens are accurately representing their age on Instagram."
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WATCH HEREAccording to the announcement, the notification will contain information on how parents can check and confirm their teen's age listed on Instagram.
Meta's plan also includes new artificial intelligence features to help determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, by proactively finding accounts that belong to teens, "even if they list an adult birthday."
"Teen Accounts was developed with Illinois parents in mind to address their top concerns, including the content their teens see online and who can contact them," Meta said in the announcement.
Since its launch in September 2024, 25 million teens in the US have an Instagram "teen account," Meta said. 97% teens aged 13–15 have kept the default safety settings on, the announcement said, and over 90% of parents surveyed say the new protections are helpful in supporting their teens on Instagram.
How will Instagram know if you are lying about your age?
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Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner’s age.
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SIGN UP If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account.
Teen accounts are private by default, and private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. “Sensitive content,” such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said.
Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes, and a “sleep mode” will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.
The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges.
Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don’t do enough to make their products safe for children — or verify that no kids under 13 use them.
The move also comes as Instagram recently announced users 16 and under won't be able to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages they've received without parental approval.
