KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Meta Platforms recently rolled out enhanced safeguards for teenagers through its revamped “Teen Accounts” on Instagram, placing younger users under even stricter default settings for privacy, content exposure and parental controls.
Meta, an American multinational technology company, owns and operates major social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads.
The move comes at a critical juncture as Putrajaya weighs a sweeping ban on social media access for users under 16, with the additional safety features now built in by default, rather than requiring parents to actively seek out safety settings.
At a recent press briefing, Clara Koh, Meta’s director of public policy for South-east Asia and Asean, said the latest initiative underscores the importance of placing parents at the centre of the regulatory approach rather than relying on a total lockout.
Unlike a standard Instagram account, where privacy and safety settings must be manually configured, Teen Accounts come pre-set with stricter safeguards.
So what actually changes for the average Malaysian teen user and how different is the experience on Instagram under Meta’s revamped Teen Accounts?
The recent update
As the updated safeguards roll out in the coming months, Malaysian teens on Instagram with existing Teen Accounts will, by default, see content aligned with what is considered suitable for an age-appropriate movie.
Those under 18 will also be automatically placed into a stricter 13+ setting — and cannot opt out of these protections without parental consent.
For parents seeking the most restrictive option, Meta has also introduced a new “Limited Content” setting within Teen Accounts on Instagram that applies additional filtering beyond existing safeguards, further narrowing the range of content teens can access.
It also disables commenting features entirely, meaning teens can no longer see, leave, or receive comments on posts, resulting in a more controlled and tightly managed viewing experience.
Four new guardrails
While Teen Accounts is already designed to protect teens from inappropriate content, Meta said it will continue to proactively identify content that violates its updated age-appropriate guidelines.
This also includes expanding existing protections for Teen Accounts registered on Instagram.
Teens who already follow certain restricted accounts will no longer be able to see or interact with those accounts, send or receive Direct Messages (DM), or view their comments. These accounts also won’t be recommended to teens or easily found in search, and the restriction works both ways — those accounts also can’t follow, message, or comment on teen profiles.
Instagram will also block a wider range of mature search terms (like “alcohol” or “gore”), including misspellings and already restricted topics such as suicide and self-harm.
Teens won’t be shown content that violates updated guidelines in recommendations, feeds, stories, or comments — even if posted by people they follow. They also won’t be able to open links to restricted content sent via DMs.
AI features for teens will be adjusted to stay age-appropriate, ensuring responses remain in line with what would be suitable for a 13+ audience.
Tell me more about Teen Accounts
According to Meta, Teen Accounts — which completed a global rollout in June 2025 — comes with a range of built-in protections by default, aimed at addressing parents’ biggest concerns.
For the uninitiated, these accounts are private by default and people who do not follow them cannot see their content or interact with them, and teens must approve new followers.
Teens can also only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow.
They are also placed on the strictest messaging settings by default, meaning teens can only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected to, alongside the most restrictive version of Instagram’s anti-bullying feature, which filters offensive words and phrases from comments and direct message requests.
While parents cannot read their teen’s messages, they will be able to see whom their teen messaged in the past seven days.
It also includes built-in time management features, including a daily reminder prompting teens to leave Instagram after 60 minutes and a “sleep mode” that mutes notifications overnight and sends automatic replies to direct messages — both require parents’ permission to change.
As an added safeguard against grooming, teens are automatically restricted from using the “Live” feature, while suspected nude images in direct messages are blurred and accompanied by warnings about the risks of sharing such content.
If a teen wishes to switch to less restrictive settings on Instagram, parental supervision must first be set up, and any changes will require parental approval regardless of the teen’s age.
Malay Mail – Malaysia
