Meta announced the launch of Instagram Teen Accounts across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), to help teens stay safe and give parents peace of mind. Teen accounts will transform how teens experience Instagram by placing them in the most protective content and privacy settings by default to offer safer, more age-appropriate online experiences.
Built with input from parents, psychologists, and safety experts, Instagram Teen Accounts introduce a set of built-in protections that limit who can contact teens, the content they can see, and how much time they spend on the platform. Teens under 16 will automatically be placed into Teen Accounts and will need parental or guardian approval to change any of the protective settings to be less strict.
Globally, more than 54 million teens have already been enrolled into Teen Accounts, with 97% of teens ages 13-15 electing to remain in these protections. Early feedback from both teens and parents has been overwhelmingly positive — over 90% of parents surveyed saying the protections are helpful.
Key protections offered with Teen Accounts include: Private Accounts, Messaging Restrictions, Sensitive Content Control, Time Limit Reminders, and Sleep Mode.
To mark the launch, Meta hosted the Youth Summit in collaboration with Digital Wellbeing Council on June 18 in Emirates Towers, Dubai. The event brought together UAE policy stakeholders, experts, parents, and teens for an open dialogue about how to build safer digital experiences for teens and addressed recent trends in youth wellbeing. Additionally, parent creator, media personality and book author Helen Farmer, co-founder of Arab Child Summit; creator and educator Deema Al Alami and clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia Dr. Tanya Dharamshi ran a workshop to explore Instagram’s safety and supervision tools and share best practices for creating healthy, supportive online experiences for teens.
Meta is also partnering with regional parent creators, including the likes of Alaa Abou Harb, The Afrobysara Family, Jana Alhafarand others to develop short-form video guides and safety tips on Instagram, making it easier for families to understand and use the new tools available to them.
The announcement comes as part of Meta’s broader commitment to supporting digital wellbeing and online safety, especially among younger users in the region.
