Instagram to increase privacy and security for young people on the app

Instagram is making some changes for young people on the platform — and, no, it isn't Instagram Youth.

On Tuesday, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that everyone who signs up for an Instagram account who is under 16 will be defaulted to a private account. You have to be at least 13 years old to even sign up for an account and, historically, all users could choose between a public or private account when they signed up. Now, young users will be opted into a private account and will have to manually switch to a public one.

For young users who already have public accounts, they'll be prompted with a notification that highlights "the benefits of a private account" and will explain how to change their privacy settings, according to Instagram.

"As a dad to three, I know it’s important to create an Instagram experience for young people that’s safe and private but also fun," Mosseri said in an Instagram post about the changes. "We’ll keep listening to feedback from teens, parents, lawmakers and experts — and working to keep Instagram safe."

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It's also about to get a bit more difficult for adults to chat with teens who don't want to talk with them, by finding accounts with "potentially suspicious behavior" and stopping them from interacting with young people's accounts. That behavior includes accounts belonging to adults that young people have blocked or reported, Instagram said in a press statement. The platform also won't show young people's accounts in Explore, Reels or the suggested pages for those potentially suspicious adults, and will block them from commenting on young people's posts.

The platform will also start limiting the ways advertisers and young people can interact on both Instagram and Facebook by only allowing advertisers to target ads to people under 18 based on their age, gender, and location and not on things like interests or activity on other apps and websites.

Instagram says they'll "continue listening" to young people, parents, lawmakers, and experts in order to build a platform that is not only enjoyable but also safe. But this comes as Instagram continues to discuss an entirely new platform specifically for young people — Instagram Youth. All the while, the platform is struggling to compete with other apps young people simply use more, like Snapchat or TikTok.

It's unclear if these extra safety measures will make the app more attractive for young users, but it there's a chance that fewer old people on their pages will make it more fun — and safer.

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