Instagram has an account for teenagers in Vietnam, parents have control

Meta has begun offering Instagram youth accounts to people under 16 in Vietnam, under parental control.

Instagram has accounts for teenagers that parents can control - Photo: REUTERS

Meta said the Teen accounts feature on Instagram is intended to serve parents' desire to allow their children to use social networks to connect with friends and explore personal interests in a safe way.

Multiple limitations to protect users

All teens under 16 (including new and existing Instagram users), as well as those under 18 who sign up for a new account, will have their accounts set to private.

So you'll need to accept new follow requests, and non-followers won't be able to see your content or interact with you.

Teen accounts will be set to a strict messaging mode, allowing them to only receive messages from people they follow or have a previous connection with.

Kids will automatically be placed on the highest level of sensitive content controls to limit access to inappropriate content, like graphic violence or content promoting cosmetic surgery, on Explore and Reels.

Instagram will automatically enable the highest level of its anti-bullying feature, Hidden Words, which filters out offensive words and phrases in comments and direct messages.

Instagram will also send reminders to teens to leave the app after 60 minutes of use each day, and sleep mode will be automatically enabled from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., which will silence notifications overnight and automatically send responses to direct messages.

Parents have control

Meta says the new protections are designed to address parents' biggest concerns, including: who can contact their kids online, what content they can view, and how long they spend on the platform.

Parents can see a list of accounts their children have messaged in the last 7 days, of course they cannot read the message content out of respect for privacy.

Parents can set a maximum amount of time their child can use Instagram each day. Once this limit is reached, the child will be locked out of the app. Parents can also restrict their child's use of Instagram to nighttime or during certain times with a simple tap.

These protections will be enabled automatically, giving parents the power to decide whether teens under 16 can change these settings. Users will need parental permission if they want to use Instagram with less protection. To submit an approval request, they must set up parental supervision on Instagram.

For teens 16 and older, if parents want more control, they can simply turn on supervision, which allows them to approve or deny any changes to protection settings, regardless of their child's age.

Once supervision is set up, parents can proactively approve or deny requests to change settings from their children, or choose to let them manage the settings themselves. In the future, Meta says parents will be able to directly adjust these settings for a higher level of protection.

Measures to prevent false age declaration

To address the issue of misrepresenting age when creating accounts among some teens, Instagram will require age verification at more points, such as when a user tries to use a new account but claims an adult birth date.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/instagram-co-tai-khoan-cho-thanh-thieu-nien-tai-viet-nam-phu-huynh-duoc-kiem-soat-20250211153200761.htm