Instagram protects minors by setting their account as “private”

After the algorithmic update introduced last March to protect younger users, Instagram has decided to activate a new safety measure for all minors who decide to join the social network. In fact, as announced by the company, starting this week for users under the age of 16 – 18 in Italy – theaccount will automatically be set as private at the time of registration.

This will prevent, or at least try to limit, that they are contacted by unknown adults or by whom they do not wish to be disturbed: however, members will always and in any case have the possibility to make the profile public and therefore show the posts to anyone. the Stories and the published Reels.

“It’s good to know that Instagram uses technologies to minimize the opportunities for adults who have shown suspicious behavior on the app to interact with minors. It is an important strategy, which adds to the work already done this year for prevent adults from having the opportunity to send messages to minors I’m not in contact with, “he explains Justin Patchin, Co-director of Cyberbullying Research Center, and continues «I appreciate the new regulation that foresees the private account as the default setting for new users who are under 16 years old. We have always recommended teenagers to set your social media profiles as private, to have more control over who can see the content they post. The private account by default is a sensible choice and allows teens to understand what they want to share and with whom».

And if in the past Instagram asked during registration whether to make the account public or private, recent research has shown that the most young people prefer to have a private experience on the social network: not surprisingly, 8 out of 10 members agreed to limit the display of the profile by setting it as private during registration.

Furthermore, among other innovations, the debut of a new technology would allow the algorithm to identify users who have exhibited abnormal behavior – therefore blocked or reported by young people – and prevent them from having interactions: the novelty will hide the profiles of the children from the Explore sections, in Reels or in Accounts suggested for you suspicious accounts.

On the subject is Janice Richardson, International advisor of Insight SA and an expert at the Council of Europe, to conclude: «Instagram’s strategy to find and isolate potentially malicious subjects is an excellent position. Young people have the right to experience their own sociability in a free way, without the danger of colliding with any dangerous subjects. While generally aware of the risks involved in sharing personal information, often in fact, young people underestimate the dangers in terms of privacy. The private account by default guarantees them time to adapt and understand how to best manage their privacy, without limiting their freedom of choice in any way “.

However, if you already have an active Instagram profile and you believe the time has come to limit visibility to unknown users, in the gallery of this article you will find all the useful information to know how to set up a private account!