Meta introduces new parental control tools for Instagram and Messenger

The latest measures include a parental supervision hub in Messenger, proactive blocking of unwanted direct messages on Messenger and Instagram, and reminders for teens to take breaks.

The Messenger supervision controls, accessible through Meta's Family Center, will initially be available in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

These tools empower guardians to monitor their teens' privacy and safety settings, track changes in their Messenger contact list, and monitor their app usage time. Guardians will also receive notifications when a teen reports someone, but explicit permission from the child is required for this notification.

Parents will have the ability to manage message settings, such as who can message their teens (only friends, friends of friends, or no one), and who can view their stories. If any of these settings are changed by the child, the guardians will receive a notification.

In recent years, Instagram has taken several measures to limit interactions between teens and unknown adults. As part of this ongoing effort, the platform will now prompt users who are not connected to another user to send an invitation to request permission for interaction. These invitations will be text-only and limited to one at a time.

To solve the problem of prolonged usage, Instagram introduced "Quiet mode" earlier this year, allowing users to pause notifications and automatically reply to DMs while taking a break. This feature was initially available in select countries, but now it is being rolled out globally.

Furthermore, Instagram and Facebook will notify users after a certain duration of usage, urging them to take a break. For Facebook, this notification will appear after 20 minutes, while Instagram will remind teens watching Reels at night to close the app.

Meta is also introducing a new notice on Instagram that allows teens to grant supervision access to their accounts by their guardians, enhancing account protection. Parents will now be able to view mutual connections for the accounts their teens follow or accounts that follow them.