Instagram adds Parental Controls for the first time

Following last December's announcement, the Instagram development team is integrating parental control features into the popular service for the first time, starting in the US and expected to launch worldwide in the coming months.

Parents of 13-17 year olds (under 13 years old are not allowed to create an account) will find the new options in the new section of the settings called Family Center. From there they can almost completely monitor the children's activity and set time limits for using the service. In particular, they can see how much time they spend on the application, receive notifications for each account they follow or follow, as well as any reports they make to other accounts (eg in case of harassment).

Parental control options are of course optional and require the consent of the young user, and can be canceled at any time by the parent or automatically as soon as the user turns 18 (based on the date of birth stated on their account).

At the same time, the Family Center will have various educational videos and tools to help parents in the difficult process to talk to their children about social networks and the impact they can have on their daily lives.