New Instagram accounts of users under the age of 16 to be private by default

Instagram has rolled out a few new features so that the “young people” on the platform have a safer and more private experience. New Instagram users who are under 16 years old (or under 18 in certain countries) will now have a private account by default until chosen otherwise. As per the company, this will stop or limit young people from hearing from unknown adults, they don’t want to interact with. [caption id=“attachment_9843861” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] New Instagram users under the age of 16 will have a private account by default.[/caption] If you have a private account, strangers will not be able to see or respond to your posts, Reels and Stories. Your content will not show up in the Explore tab, hence it will limit your audience to the friend list. For young teens who already have a public account, Instagram will now show a notification explaining the benefits of a private account and how can they switch to one. The platform will also roll out a new tech wherein it will reduce unwanted contact from adults — like those who have already been blocked or reported by other teens. It will also change how advertisers target these young users. As per the statement by Instagram, “Starting in a few weeks, we’ll only allow advertisers to target ads to people under 18 (or older in certain countries) based on their age, gender and location. This means that previously available targeting options, like those based on interests or on their activity on other apps and websites, will no longer be available to advertisers.” It will apply to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.