'I was terrified of Instagram for my teen until I discovered these safety hacks.'

If you want to support independent women's media, become a Mamamia subscriber. Get an all-access pass to everything we make, including exclusive podcasts, articles, videos and our exercise app, MOVE.

When I got my son a phone for his twelfth birthday, I felt like I had handed him a carton of cigarettes.

It wasn't the greatest feeling, but it was a choice we made as a family and so far, it's been going well.

The next hurdle we'll tackle is social media; something I personally over use, but hasn't been a pleading wish in my family, just yet.

In case you missed it, Australia has officially announced children under 16 will be banned from having accounts on major social media platforms from December 10, 2025.

This is currently set to include Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and X.

Watch: Mamamia Out Loud breaks down what you need to know about the potential YouTube ban for teens, post continues.

It goes without saying, it's each family's prerogative as to what they allow their teens to do on social media and when.

For those who have a teen who will be over 16 later in the year, or one pestering you for an Instagram account now, I recently learnt about teen accounts on Instagram with a focus on safety, age appropriateness, time limits and nudity protections.

Here's a breakdown of Instagram teen account safety features and extra hacks that can help us feel better about navigating this phase of parenting.

What are Instagram teen accounts?

Instagram teen accounts are currently available for users aged 13–17.

They are automatically set up with stricter privacy and safety settings by default, aiming to protect teens from unwanted contact, inappropriate content, and help manage their time on the app.

The platform introduced these accounts across Australia, the US, UK and Canada as part of sweeping changes to address growing concerns about teen safety online.

Parents can set active time limits and see who their child is contacting. Image: Meta.

A point to note; Instagram uses AI to monitor for adult accounts displaying suspicious behaviour and prevents them from interacting with or being suggested to teens.

They're also developing age verification technology to catch users who lie about their age.

Privacy and content controls.

Did you know all teen accounts are private by default, meaning they're automatically set to private?

Only approved followers can see their posts and stories, and currently, teens aged 13–15 can't make their accounts public without parental or guardian approval.

Parents can also link their teen's account via Instagram's Family Centre, which allows them to:

- Approve or deny teen requests to change safety settings

- Set screen time limits or block usage during certain hours

- View message contacts (not content) from the past seven days

- See the topics their teen has chosen to follow

If you're concerned about your teen seeing material promoting cosmetic procedures, and sexually explicit or violent content (same!), rest assured.

Teen accounts are automatically placed on the most restrictive setting for sensitive content. Their Explore, Reels, and other discovery tools limit exposure to inappropriate material by default.

Plus, parents can opt out and block certain content, for example, content with any diet or body image context.

Peace of mind features.

Image: Meta

One of the biggest fears I have as a parent is strangers contacting my teen.

Smart messaging controls is how Instagram ensures teens can only receive direct messages from people they follow or are already connected with.

If a teen receives a message from someone they're not connected with, it typically goes into a separate "message requests" folder, and Instagram may block it entirely, especially if the sender is an adult.

Teens will also now see key safety prompts within the app, including:

- Reminders to be cautious when sending messages

- A one-tap "Block & Report" button

- Information on when the person messaging joined Instagram (to help spot fake accounts)

- A location notice if the person messaging appears to be overseas (a warning flag for potential scams)

To help tackle online bullying, an anti-bullying feature automatically filters out offensive words or phrases in comments and DM requests.

It's like having a bouncer for your teen's inbox.

As for nudity protections — another thing parents will always be worried about — suspected nude images that are sent or received in DMs are blurred by default.

Currently, under-16s need parental approval to disable this feature.

The nudity blocker function. Image: Meta.

Time management features and extra safety hacks.

Sleep mode: Notifications are automatically silenced from 10PM to 7AM. There's even an auto-reply feature for direct messages during these hours, and parents can manually adjust these timeframes to suit their family.

Daily usage limits: Teens get notifications telling them to leave the app after 60 minutes each day. Parents can set even stricter daily usage limits if needed.

Enable 'Two-Factor Authentication': Adds another security layer to prevent unauthorised access.

Review account privacy regularly: Double-check who can see posts, stories, and personal information.

Limit profile information: Avoid sharing sensitive details like phone numbers, addresses, or school names.

The bottom line.

Instagram's teen accounts won't solve every digital parenting challenge, but they've transformed my perspective from "absolutely not" to "let's talk about this responsibly" for when the time comes.

The combination of automatic privacy settings, parental oversight tools, and built-in time management can help give parents the confidence they need to navigate the platform with their teen, with proper guardrails in place.

There are still unanswered questions; namely, whether tech-savvy teens might find workarounds.

That said, we can't protect our kids from everything, but we can put measures like these in place that will hopefully keep them as safe as they can be.

For more information on Teen Accounts, you can visit Meta's updates andnewsroom announcements here and here.

Feature Image: Getty.