Kids under 16 will need parental consent to livestream on Instagram

Meta Platforms has announced new safety measures for teenage users on Instagram, including a requirement for parental consent before users under 16 can livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages.

The changes are part of a broader effort to provide parents with more control over their children’s online activities. These new measures will first be implemented in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with plans to expand globally in the coming months.

The update includes blocking teens under 16 from using Instagram Live without parental approval and requiring consent to disable the feature that blurs images with suspected nudity in direct messages. Additionally, Meta is extending similar safeguards to Facebook and Messenger, where teen accounts will have privacy settings by default, restrictions on messages from strangers, and limited exposure to sensitive content like violent videos.

The new features also remind teens to take breaks after 60 minutes of use and disable notifications during bedtime hours. Since the launch of the teen account program in September, over 54 million teen accounts have been created.