Changes
400 times Instagram's guidance has changed, newest first.
9 of 400 changes about Teen safety. Show all
2026
Teen safetySep 2026
The school community features now require high school students to be verified through UNiDAYS before joining, and parents can see their teen's school participation in Family Center.
Before
New: Introducing New Features to Help College Students Connect on Instagram“Today, we're expanding selected features to high school students in the U. S. , with additional safeguards, moderated by teachers and educators through the Instagram School Partnership Program. Eligible high school students will be able to add their school to their Instagram profile, discover school clubs and teams, and stay informed about announcements and activities shared through School Stories and Notes by their school and associated clubs and teams.”
After
Expanding Instagram’s School Partnership Program to Help Teens Stay Informed“Keeping teens safe online is paramount and we want to assure educators and parents that we’re building these features with the proper protections in place so teens can explore their interests and express their creativity in a safe, age-appropriate space.”
Teen safetyJul 2026
The Limited Content setting, first introduced for Instagram content, now also applies to Meta AI, which will decline a broader range of prompts from teens.
Before
AI Breakthroughs, Our Most Advanced Glasses, and More: Meta’s 2025 Highlights“We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps, so we’re constantly gathering feedback from parents and experts to improve our features and deliver better experiences. Building on the success of Teen Accounts, we added new protections and unveiled updated content settings, inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+.”
After
Alerting Parents if Teens Show Signs of Distress in Conversations With Meta AI“Teen Accounts are automatically placed into a 13+ content setting, which also applies to conversations with Meta AI. In this default 13+ setting, Meta AI is designed to give age-appropriate responses and not comply with sensitive prompts.”
Teen safetyMay 2026
Parental supervision, first set up inside Instagram, is now managed in one Family Center hub across Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Meta Horizon, with a single invitation.
Before
New Supervision Tools“If you are a parent of a teen, you know what's best for your kid. And we believe that Instagram can be an important place for teens to build relationships and explore their interests. But we also know how important it is we do all we can to keep teens safe on our platform.”
After
New Supervision Tools Give Parents Insights Into Their Teen’s Algorithm and More“A Central Hub: All supervised accounts on Instagram, Meta Horizon, Facebook, and Messenger are now consolidated in Family Center, so parents can find and manage their teen’s safety settings in one place without switching between apps.”
2025
Teen safetyDec 2025
The default for teens moved from the strictest sensitive-content setting to a new 13+ setting based on movie ratings, with an extra, stricter Limited Content option for parents.
Before
Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: Built-In Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents“We recognize parents are concerned that their teens might see mature or inappropriate content online, which is why we have stricter rules around the kinds of content teens see on our apps. We remove content that breaks our rules and avoid recommending potentially sensitive content – such as sexually suggestive content or content discussing suicide or self-harm.”
After
AI Breakthroughs, Our Most Advanced Glasses, and More: Meta’s 2025 Highlights“We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps, so we’re constantly gathering feedback from parents and experts to improve our features and deliver better experiences. Building on the success of Teen Accounts, we added new protections and unveiled updated content settings, inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+.”
Teen safetyOct 2025
The number of teens Instagram says are protected by Teen Accounts grew from 'tens of millions' to 'hundreds of millions' globally.
Before
Our New Education Campaign to Help Protect Teens From Sextortion Scams“In addition to this campaign, Meta is announcing a range of new safety features designed to further protect people from sextortion and make it even harder for sextortion criminals to succeed. These features complement our recent announcement of Teen Accounts, which gives tens of millions of teens built-in protections that limit who can contact them, the content they see and how much time they’re spending online.”
After
Instagram Teen Accounts Will Be Inspired by 13+ Movie Ratings Criteria and Parent Feedback“a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen. We invited thousands of parents worldwide to share their feedback with us, helping us shape these changes and ensure our efforts align with their expectations.”
Teen safetySep 2025
The School Partnership Program went from a pilot to a full launch for all US middle and high schools, with prioritized review targeted within 48 hours.
Before
Partnering Directly With Schools and Teachers to Address Bullying“We recently introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, a new experience for teens, guided by parents. Teen Accounts were designed to give parents peace of mind that their teens are having safe, age-appropriate experiences on Instagram, with built-in protections turned on automatically.”
After
Hundreds of Millions of Teens Are Now in Teen Accounts, Plus We’re Adding More Support for Schools and Teachers“While we’re focused on providing young people with built-in protections and giving parents ways to directly manage their teens’ experiences, we recognize there are many who play a role in keeping teens safe — including teachers and schools.”
Teen safetyApr 2025
Teen Accounts gained new protections, so under-16s now need a parent's permission to go Live or to turn off the filter for unwanted images in DMs, and Teen Accounts are expanding from Instagram to Facebook and Messenger.
Before
We’re introducing Teen Accounts to give teens automatic safe protections and parents more peace of mind.“Today we're introducing a significant new experience on Instagram called Teen Accounts. Teen Accounts are designed to provide automatic protections for teens and give parents some peace of mind. I talk to parents all the time about their concerns about their teens being online and I consistently hear three things: one, concerns about who can contact them; two, what content they see; and three, how much time that they spend online.”
After
We’re Introducing New Built-In Restrictions for Instagram Teen Accounts, and Expanding to Facebook and Messenger“We’re introducing additional Instagram Teen Accounts protections, so teens under 16 won’t be able to go live or turn off our protections for unwanted images in DM without a parent’s permission. We’ll also begin making Teen Accounts available on Facebook and Messenger.”
2024
Teen safetyOct 2024
The stricter default messaging settings first covered teens under 16 (under 18 in some countries), and with Teen Accounts they now cover all teens under 18.
Before
I talk to a lot of parents, and often hear concerns about who can message their teens.“I talk to a lot of parents, and often hear concerns about who can message their teens. That’s why today we’re announcing stricter messaging settings for teens under 16 (and under 18 in certain countries) so they won’t receive messages from anyone they don’t follow or aren’t connected to, by default.”
After
Our New Education Campaign to Help Protect Teens From Sextortion Scams“In addition to this campaign, Meta is announcing a range of new safety features designed to further protect people from sextortion and make it even harder for sextortion criminals to succeed. These features complement our recent announcement of Teen Accounts, which gives tens of millions of teens built-in protections that limit who can contact them, the content they see and how much time they’re spending online.”
Teen safetyJan 2024
Restricting DMs to people a teen is connected to went from an opt-in 'recommended settings' prompt to the default for teens.
Before
New Protections to Give Teens More Age-Appropriate Experiences on Our Apps“To help make sure teens are regularly checking their safety and privacy settings on Instagram, and are aware of the more private settings available, we’re sending new notifications encouraging them to update their settings to a more private experience with a single tap.”
After
Introducing Stricter Message Settings for Teens on Instagram and Facebook“To help protect teens from unwanted contact on Instagram and Messenger, we restrict adults over 18 from starting private chats with teens they’re not connected to. We also limit the message requests people can send to someone who doesn’t follow or isn’t already connected to them, to text-only messages.”