KUALA LUMPUR — Meta users under the age of 16 will not be able to livestream without their parents’ permission under new protections to be added to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
The company on Tuesday said that this measure is an update to Teen Accounts that was rolled out on Instagram last September. Teen Accounts will now be incorporated into the two other platforms.
Additionally, users under 16 will no longer be able to disable the “automatic blurring” feature in private messages.
The expansion of Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger will first be tested in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia in the coming months.
“We will bring the experience to teens in other regions soon,” the company said in a press statement.
Meta added that Teen Accounts on Instagram had been well-received since its roll-out last year, with 97% of teens aged 13-15 keeping their default restrictions on, and 94% of US parents saying Teen Accounts would be helpful.
Teen users are automatically placed into Teen Accounts, which have built-in protections that limit who can contact teens and the content they see. Teen users need parental permission to change any of these protection settings.
Other protections include having notifications turned off overnight and reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes. Teens can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.
The moves come amid a push in many countries to limit or ban social media use under a certain age, with research pointing to the dangers of social media use by young minds.
Meta said since Teen Accounts was incorporated into Instagram last September, there now are at least 54 million active Teen Accounts globally. – April 9, 2025