An investigation conducted by BBC News has raised concerns about the potential risks young Instagram users may still face despite the introduction of new Teen Accounts aimed at providing enhanced protection and control. According to researchers from the online child safety charity 5Rights Foundation, even with these new accounts, individuals were able to create fake profiles using false birthdays and were subsequently exposed to sexualized content, hateful comments, and recommended adult accounts to follow. Meta, the company that owns Instagram, stated that the new accounts come with “built-in protections” and share the goal of ensuring the safety of teenagers online.
This research comes at a time when Ofcom, the UK regulator, is preparing to release safety codes for children as part of the Online Safety Act. These safety codes will lay out the regulations that platforms must adhere to, including implementing robust age verification measures, utilizing safer algorithms that do not promote harmful content, and enforcing effective content moderation policies. Ultimately, platforms will have three months to demonstrate that they have the necessary systems in place to protect children.
Introduced in September 2024, Instagram Teen Accounts were created with the intention of offering additional safeguards for children and providing peace of mind for parents. These accounts were designed to restrict who could contact users and limit the content young people could access. However, the 5Rights Foundation researchers were able to easily set up fake Teen Accounts using incorrect birthdates without facing any additional verification measures from the platform. They discovered that upon signing up, they were immediately presented with adult accounts to follow and message.
The researchers also found that Instagram’s algorithms continued to promote sexualized imagery, harmful beauty standards, and other negative stereotypes. Furthermore, the Teen Accounts were exposed to posts containing substantial amounts of hateful comments, raising concerns about the platform’s addictive nature and the prevalence of sponsored, commercialized content. Baroness Beeban Kidron, the founder of 5Rights Foundation, criticized Instagram for failing to create a safe environment for teenagers, emphasizing the platform’s lack of age verification, promotion of adult content, and exposure to commercial situations without adequate warning. Despite these findings, Meta reiterated that the new accounts offer protections that limit contact, content visibility, and screen time for teens, and emphasized that users under 16 in the UK require parental permission to alter their account settings
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