The arrival of Teen Accounts on Instagram in Latin America marks a new approach to digital protection for young people. Since the beginning of 2025, Meta implemented this modality that automatically establishes specific filters and restrictions for users between 13 and 17 years of age.
The new experience limits unwanted interactions, reduces exposure to sensitive content and sends reminders to promote responsible use among minors.
Below is everything you need to know about this Instagram option for minors, plus how parents can get the most out of it.
Starting in early 2025, Instagram made all teen accounts in the region private.This implies that profiles of users between 13 and 17 years old require approval for new followers.
Outsiders cannot view content or interact with publications, a measure that seeks to “shield” the digital experience from unknown users.
Likewise, messaging adopts stricter filters.Teenagers can only receive messages from those they already follow or have previously accepted. The platform automatically restricts the viewing of sensitive content, such as fights or promotions of cosmetic procedures, in sections such as Explore and Reels.
Meta established that the main protections are activated automatically when creating a teenager account or when a user turns 13 years old.
Parents can decide whether children under 16 can change these settings to make them less strict, although maximum protection is the default option.
Settings are adjusted from the main menu of the application, where privacy and security controls are displayed.Within these options, the “Hidden Words” function stands out, which automatically filters insults, offensive phrases and unwanted requests in direct messages.Likewise, only followed people can tag or mention the teenager.
Managing usage time is one of the central points of new accounts.By exceeding 60 minutes a day in the application, adolescents receive a notification suggesting they pause the activity.
This alert aims to prevent excessive use and promote healthy digital habits, according to official Meta announcements.
On the other hand, “sleep mode” is automatically activated between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.During this period, notifications are silenced and automatic responses are sent to received messages.This feature addresses concerns about sleep quality and the impact of nighttime device use.
For those looking for more detailed monitoring, Instagram offers the Parental Monitoring tool.After mutual acceptance between father, mother and child, it is possible to know who the teenager interacts with, establish personalized time limits and monitor the list of contacts and followers.
This process starts with an invitation sent from the application menu, under the “Teenager account monitoring” section.Once the invitation is accepted, the adult can review the relevant activity in real time, without accessing private messages.
Among the most recent solutions, Meta promotes “Take It Down”, a free service focused on combating the dissemination of images or videos of nudity or sexually explicit content of minors under 18 years of age.
This tool assigns a unique fingerprint to each reported file, allowing platforms to identify and remove such material if it appears on their services.The process preserves privacy, because the files never leave the device or are reviewed by strangers.
