Instagram is introducing new restrictions to protect children

Instagram, the photo and video-sharing platform, has introduced a series of measures aimed at strengthening child safety in comments and recommendations.

From now on, accounts managed by adults that feature photos of children will be excluded from recommendation feeds for users identified by the platform as potentially harmful. This includes users whose behavior has raised suspicion or who have been previously blocked by teenagers.

Additionally, Instagram will begin hiding comments from such users under posts featuring children. It will also make it more difficult for these individuals to find similar accounts through search.

"While most of these accounts are used in positive ways, unfortunately, there are people who attempt to misuse them by posting sexualized comments or requesting explicit images via direct messages—clear violations of our rules. Today, we’re announcing steps to prevent such abuse," Instagram stated.

These restrictions follow growing criticism of Meta, after investigations revealed that Instagram’s algorithm was helping suspicious users discover profiles featuring children, thus unintentionally enabling harmful behavior.

According to the company, earlier this year, Instagram removed nearly 135,000 accounts for posting sexual comments or requesting explicit content from profiles run by adults showing children under the age of 13.

Previously, it was announced that Instagram, Facebook, and Direct Messenger will introduce new parental controls in the coming months. Teenagers under the age of 16 will no longer be able to livestream without parental permission.