Instagram Will Ask Teens to Review Their Privacy Settings

Instagram will ask teenage users to review their privacy settings as part of its ongoing effort to make it safer for younger people to use its platform.

As part of a new test(Opens in a new window), Instagram will “show prompts asking teens to review their settings including: controlling who can reshare their content, who can message and contact them, what content they can see, and how they can manage their time spent on Instagram.”

Instagram’s also making a change related to the Sensitive Content Control setting, which determines how frequently someone might see risque content in their feeds. Teens have two options: “Standard” and “Less.” The latter is now the default setting for users who are under 16.

The company will prompt older teens to use the “Less” setting, too, which it says “will make it more difficult for young people to come across potentially sensitive content or accounts in Search, Explore, Hashtag Pages, Reels, Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Accounts.”

This is the kind of feature that leads some people to lie about their age—as anyone who sought out “sensitive content” or wanted to sign up for practically any online service without parental supervision can attest—which is part of the reason why Instagram asks users to verify their age.

That change seems like an attempt to convince parents to let their kids continue to use Instagram, but reminding teens to check on their privacy settings could actually help limit the chances of them being harassed, stalked, or preyed upon, at least in theory.