Instagram is a popular and fun app for people of all ages, but it’s also a place where just about anyone can encounter scams, explicit content, harassment, cyberbullying, and abuse. That’s why it’s important to set up Instagram Parental Controls before your kids encounter sensitive content.

Many parents wonder if they can access their teen’s Instagram account. According to Instagram, privacy laws prohibit them from giving anyone, even a parent, access to an account that belongs to an authorized account holder. An authorized account holder is any user who is at least 13 years old. If your teen is at least 13, you should work with them to implement several additional security and privacy measures on their account to help keep them safe.

Instagram doesn’t have any parent-specific safety or security features built into the platform to supervise their teen’s account. However, you and your teen can work together using the platform’s general safety and security features (and best practices) to help prevent them from being exposed to or being the victim of anything suspicious or offensive.

Set your teen's profile to private so that only followers can see their posts and stories. New users who decide to follow a private profile will have to be approved first.