Instagram Rolls Out Teen Accounts in India Amid Draft DPDP Rules: What’s Changing for Young Users?

Instagram has announced the launch of its teen accounts feature in India – one of its largest markets, introducing additional protective measures to enhance user safety. This feature comes in the wake of the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025, which mandate stricter regulations for data protection. 

DPDP Rules 2025 and Parental Consent

According to these rules, companies—referred to as data fiduciaries—cannot process data of users under 18 without verifiable parental consent. Additionally, parental consent will be required for creating social media accounts. If these rules are enacted as currently drafted, platforms may need to adopt additional protective measures. While Meta has stated it will not restrict account creation, it is introducing a new feature that will allow parents to control various types of content.

Key Features of Instagram Teen Accounts 

What Access Do Parents Have? 

Parents can monitor their teen’s activity through new supervision tools, including:

• Approving safety setting changes for users under 16.
• Viewing a list of people their teen has messaged in the past seven days (without message content).
• Setting daily time limits to block access after a certain duration.
• Restricting app usage during specific hours, such as nighttime, via a simple toggle.

Restricted Access to ‘Harmful’ Content 

Platforms will automatically restrict access to harmful content, such as sexually suggestive material and discussions about self-harm, even if shared by someone they follow. However, Instagram’s blog post does not specify the exact criteria for these restrictions.

Stricter Age Verification Rules 

Instagram is strengthening its age verification measures to ensure teens receive appropriate protections and cannot bypass restrictions. Since some young users may misrepresent their age, additional verification steps—such as ID verification and video selfies—will be required in certain cases like registering with an adult birthdate.

Initially announced in September 2024, this feature is part of Instagram’s ongoing efforts to improve privacy and safety for younger users. It was first introduced in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. It later expanded to the European Union.

Questions we had: 

The draft DPDP Rules require social media platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent before processing data or allowing account creation for users under 18. 

• Since Instagram currently does not restrict account creation for teens, what mechanisms will be implemented to ensure compliance?
• Will Instagram introduce a parental approval process before account registration, or will parental consent be required only for specific features and settings?
• Instagram currently uses ID verification and video selfies in certain situations. Will this process be expanded to all new accounts in India or only for flagged cases?
• How will Instagram verify the authenticity of video selfies and prevent potential workarounds, such as using another person’s ID?
• Given India’s regulatory landscape, are there plans to integrate government databases (e.g., Aadhaar) for more robust verification?

Behavioural Data and Privacy Safeguards

Instagram collects behavioural data to personalize feeds and recommend content. 

• With stricter privacy laws emerging, will Meta introduce new safeguards to limit data collection for teen accounts?
• Will Meta allow teens or parents to opt out of certain tracking methods, such as Personalized ads and content recommendations based on user activity?
• While Instagram restricts sensitive content for teens, what steps are being taken to prevent them from creating fake adult accounts or using VPNs to bypass regional restrictions?
• Will Meta use AI or behavioural analytics to detect and flag age misrepresentation attempts?

Parental Controls & Transparency

• Instagram’s new parental controls allow monitoring of message contacts and screen time. How does Meta ensure these features protect teens without overly intruding on their privacy?
• Will teens receive transparency notifications when their activity is being monitored by a parent?
• How does Meta plan to address potential misuse of these tools, especially in cases where parental controls could become overly restrictive or harmful?

We have reached out to Meta with these queries and will update this copy upon receiving a response.

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