Meta Expands Reach of Teen Account Protections

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Teen Account protections introduced by Meta, which were initially available to select markets, are now global.

This feature will now be available globally to teenagers on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

Meta worked with leading experts to build artificial intelligence (AI) tools and resources that help teens and families have age-appropriate and positive experiences on its apps.

The feature helps identify teens who may have misrepresented their age online and place them in Teen Account protections.

Teen Accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger provide teens with a set of built-in protections that automatically limit who can contact them, the content they see and their time on the apps.

Since first introducing this technology, Meta has been placing more teens in age-appropriate protections and is encouraged by the results. Based on this success, the company is now expanding the technology globally.

As a result, millions more teens across the world who use Instagram will receive these built-in protections, even if they have misrepresented their age, while plans are underway to roll out this technology globally on Threads.

For parents, this means greater peace of mind. No matter where they live, Meta is making proactive efforts to place teens in age-appropriate protections, even if they use an adult birthday to set up an account.

Ensuring all teens receive these protections depends on knowing their age. This continues to be an industry-wide challenge, as some teens may misrepresent their age online to access experiences they are not old enough to use.