Instagram announced today that new teen users would automatically be placed on the highest restriction level supported by the app.
The company says this will decrease the likelihood of young people coming across sensitive content or accounts on the platform. The content filter will be automatically applied to new Instagram users under 16 years of age. Users already in that age group will be recommended to switch to the same.
Won’t somebody please think of the children?!
Instagram’s Sensitive Content Control settings have three recently renamed categories, “Less”, “Standard” and “More”. New users under the age of 16 will be on the “Less” setting by default. The platform considers “sensitive” to consist of violence, sexual imagery, and cosmetic procedures, among other content.
Read more: Instagram wants to steer teens away from harmful content
According to Instagram, Sensitive Content Control allows users to control the amount of sensitive content a user sees on the entire platform. This will apply to the user’s “Explore page… Search, Reels, Accounts You Might Follow, Hashtag Pages and In-Feed.”
If you want to view your Sensitive Content Controls:
- Go to your profile.
- Tap the Settings menu in the upper right corner.
- Tap Account.
- Tap Sensitive Content Control. Most users will be set to the “Standard” restriction. You can set underage user’s restriction to “Less” (or your own to “More”, if you can handle the heat)
Not safe enough for you?
There are more ways to control your Insta experience. Measures include Comment Control, Restrict, Block and Mute. For parents, Instagram’s parent company Meta introduced the “Family Center” parental supervision tool. This allows parents to monitor and control the time teens spend on the platform. It also notifies parents of anyone their teen has reported. Luckily, it’s just as easy to set up Instagram’s Supervision Tools. Hit the link to find out how to do that.