You set up all of Instagram’s safety features for your teen’s account and thought you’d covered the basics.
What happened: A new report tested 47 of Instagram’s teen safety tools and found that 64% don’t work as promised. Former Meta engineer Arturo Béjar, along with researchers from NYU and Northeastern University, found that most protections parents rely on are either ineffective or easily bypassed in under three minutes.
Read the full report: Instagram Teen Accounts fail to protect children, safety tools testing reveals
What’s broken:
The “hidden words” filter that’s supposed to block offensive messages failed spectacularly. Researchers sent messages containing phrases like “you should kill yourself” between teen accounts without any filtering or warnings. Adults can still message teens who don’t follow them, despite Instagram’s promises that Teen Accounts block this. Teens can also start conversations with adult strangers through Reels.
Instagram’s auto-complete actually suggests search terms related to eating disorders, suicide, and self-harm – even though Meta promised these topics would be filtered out. Screen time controls meant to help teens manage their use were found to be “substantially ineffective”.
What parents are doing:
Some are checking their teen’s Instagram to see what’s actually getting through, rather than trusting the settings. Others are having direct conversations with their teens about what they’re seeing and who’s contacting them. Many parents are questioning whether Instagram is worth it at all, especially for younger teens.
What to consider:
Those safety features you configured might not be doing what you think they’re doing. The settings might show everything is “on” whilst nothing actually works. Ask your teen directly: “Have strangers been able to message you?” “What kind of content shows up that seems like it shouldn’t be there?” Don’t rely on Instagram’s tools as your only approach – they’re not working.
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