Instagram unveils 'teen accounts' with 'built-in protections' for online safety

 Instagram unveiled new "teen accounts" with "built-in protections" for online safety on Tuesday.

"Teen Accounts have built-in protections which limit who can contact them and the content they see, and also provide new ways for teens to explore their interests," the company said in the announcement.

"We’ll automatically place teens into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict," the company said.

With the new accounts, Instagram said that teens will have access to a new feature that allows them to "select topics they want" to see more of in their recommendations "so they can focus on the fun, positive content they love."

Teens under 16 would need to obtain their parent’s permission in order to ease some of the protective settings, such as time limits, sleep mode, strict messaging settings and sensitive content restrictions.