Meta is using new AI-detection tools, features for teen accounts on Instagram

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Meta is rolling out new tech tools aimed at giving parents more control when their teens sign up for Instagram or Facebook. Starting now, teens under 16 (or under 18 in some regions) will be prompted to notify their parents when they create a new account. The prompt appears during the sign-up process, nudging teens to involve a parent in setting up supervision tools right away.

Until now, parental supervision had to be manually set up after account creation. Meta says this update is part of a broader effort to integrate parents earlier in the digital lives of teens, making online spaces safer and more transparent.

If a teen chooses not to invite a parent, Meta will periodically remind them about the benefits of supervision and offer another chance to set it up. The tools include things like seeing how much time a teen spends on the app and setting daily time limits.

Meta is also testing tech that can detect if a teen tries to set up a new account after being supervised on a previous one. In that case, the company says it will encourage teens to reconnect with their parent or guardian before continuing.

These changes, according to Meta, build on feedback from experts and are part of ongoing investments in teen safety. Other recent efforts include defaulting teens into stricter privacy settings and reducing the types of content they can discover on the platforms, said Meta in a blog post.

Meta says it’s gradually rolling out these updates worldwide and plans to expand detection and supervision prompts in the coming months. While teens still ultimately choose whether to enable parental controls, the idea is to make it easier and more expected to have a parent involved from the start. The company says this is just one part of its larger strategy to create a safer online environment for young users.