Social media apps, such as Instagram, have been used by teens and adults everywhere to help users express themselves. Instagram is an app for users who are 12 years old and older. It is also ranked second for photo and video on the app store. The app itself allows users to share their photos, videos and thoughts. There are now restrictions on what teens can post on their page. Recently, Instagram has stated that it will now be restricting users under the age of 18. Instagram will be implementing these new restrictions over the next two months. The company plans to push changes out to existing teen accounts in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia.
“It is restricting and unfair for those who have the maturity and responsibility to do what they want,” Megan Ellis (12) said.
One restriction Instagram will be making is that all existing accounts will automatically be changed to private if you are a minor. This means users under the age of 18 will need to approve any new follow requests from other users. Instagram will also not allow teens to receive direct messages from people they do not follow. This could prevent trafficking or contact with pedophiles. Instagram is overall trying to create a safer community for their younger users.
A major concern of this new restriction is that teens are going to lie about their age to bypass the safety guidelines. Instagram has already thought of this possibility. Teens can try to change their birthdate in the app, but Instagram will now require users to verify their birthdate. They can verify their age in various ways, including submitting a video selfie for age-estimation analysis. Users may also be required to submit a legal identification with date of birth.
“I believe we are old enough to make our own decisions,” Isabella Koller (12) said.
Parents of users are able to change their child’s account settings with parental permission. For teens under 16, a parent needs to set up the parental supervision tool. With this parental control, a parent is able to view how much time their teenager is spending on Instagram. Parents can also set daily time limits for their teen’s screen usage on the app. New features released by Instagram also allow parents to have a supervision tool. This tool will show parents a list of all of the people their teen has messaged recently, along with content their child has selected to see more of. Even teens above the age of 18, are not too pleased with Instagram’s new changes.
“Although I am 18 and these restrictions won’t affect me, I still believe this update is stupid,” Breona Prosek (12) said.
Instagram might even start a trend on these new safety guidelines. Only time will tell. Other apps have already started plans to add more guidelines and parental control. For example: Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok and more.