Instagram rolls out update to change default settings for teens

WASHINGTON: Photo and video sharing platform Instagram has announced that they are rolling out a feature that defaults accounts for new users under 16 years old to ‘less’, the most restrictive setting for Sensitive Content Control.

According to The Verge, teenagers already on Instagram will get push notifications “encouraging” them to opt-in to the heavier filtering on what the algorithm shows them across Search, Explore, Hashtag Pages, Reels, Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Accounts.

The ‘Standard’ setting in Instagram only lets users see some content deemed sensitive, while the ‘Less’ option tightens the restrictions even further, and the ‘More’ option allows users to see more sensitive content or accounts than the default settings, reported The Verge.

While users over 18 years old typically have access to ‘Standard’, ‘Less’, and ‘More’, teenagers currently only have access to ‘Standard’ and ‘Less’.

In June, Instagram first introduced its ‘Less’ option. A week later, it began rolling out a feature in the US and other countries to suggest that teenage users look at other content if they spend too much time on one particular topic and excludes topics tied to appearance comparison.

Instagram is also testing prompts for teens that suggest limiting who can interact with their content. The test will ask them to review privacy and security settings related to who can re-share their content, who can message them, the type of content they can see, and time management, as per The Verge.