Instagram will roll out new setting this week that will by default keep private the accounts of those below the age of 16 (or 18 in certain countries). After the sign-up, users will have the option of keeping their accounts private or public. The Facebook-owned photo and video sharing app requires a user to be at least 13-years-old when they create an account.

The existing users below 16 with a public account will receive a notification informing them about the benefits of a private account and the steps they can take to change their account to private. But the users will not be forced to make their accounts private. A study by Instagram suggests that eight out of ten young users accept the private account settings while signing up. 

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The social media app app also said that they are developing a new technology to stop underage kids from signing up, to verify user’s age and to remove underage accounts.

Instagram also plans to stop the adults who are involved in suspicious behaviour when interacting with younger users. 

Instagram will not show underage accounts and reels in the ‘Recommended for you’ section to the adults who were identified with suspicious behaviour.

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The criteria to advertise on Instagram for users under 18 (or older in certain countries) will be age, gender and location. The advertisers will not be able to show their ads to users under 18 or track their activity on the app or the website.

Once the user turns 18, the user will be notified about the ways advertisers can target them and the tools Instagram provides to control their ad experience. The said changes will apply to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.