To Enhance Online Safety, Meta Introduces Teen Accounts on Instagram

In a significant step towards enhancing online safety for teenagers, Meta has launched Teen Accounts on Instagram in Nigeria.

This, it explained, was part of its broader commitment to ensuring safe, private, and positive online experiences for teens across Africa.

The global organisation noted that as more Nigerian teens join Instagram, it was crucial to prioritise their safety and privacy.

“Parents want to feel confident that their teens can use social media to connect with their friends and explore their interests, without having to worry about unsafe or inappropriate experiences. Teen Accounts were designed to better support parents and give them peace of mind that their teens have the right protections in place. 

“Teen Accounts have built-in protections that limit who can contact them and the content they see, and we’ll automatically place teens in Nigeria into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict,” it added.

Key protections offered with Teen Accounts include: Private Accounts: Teen accounts are set to private by default and teens under 16 can only change this setting with parental guidance; Messaging Restrictions: Teens can only receive messages from people they are already connected to; Sensitive Content Control: Teen Accounts are automatically set to see less sensitive content in search results and recommended content in Explore, Feed and Reels; and Limited Interactions: Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow, and the strictest anti-bullying feature, Hidden Words, is enabled by default.

Others are: Time Limit Reminders: Notifications prompt teens to exit the app after 60 minutes of daily usage; Sleep Mode: Enabled from 10p.m. to 7a.m., this feature mutes notifications and sends automatic replies to DMs overnight.

“We’re excited to bring these features to Nigeria and help families navigate online spaces safely. Teen Accounts are designed to give parents peace of mind, allowing teens to connect with friends and explore interests without worrying about unsafe experiences,” Safety Policy Manager, Africa, Middle East & Turkey (AMET) at Meta, Sylvia Musalagani said.

She pointed out that since Meta started reimagining its apps for teens with Teen Accounts globally in September 2024, the organisation has enrolled 54 million teens into Teen Accounts on Instagram, with 97 per cent of those aged 13–15 remaining within the strict default protective settings.

“Meta’s new policy aligns with several core priorities outlined in NITDA’s strategic roadmap, particularly concerning data privacy and protection for minors, now under the purview of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission, and child online protection and digital well-being, which we have collaboratively addressed with our sister agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission. NITDA has been a strong advocate for child online protection through various initiatives, including national strategies and proposed legislation, such as the Online Harms Protection Bill, which addresses age verification and parental controls. This policy reinforces the need for age-appropriate online experiences and promotes digital well-being,” the Director Regulations and Compliance Department, NITDA, Emmanuel Edet added.