Instagram is stepping up its security for teens with new parental controls

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Just a couple of months after Instagram scrapped its plans for a version of its app aimed at kids, the platform has announced that it is adding some new parental controls. These new controls will let parents monitor how much time their kids spend on the platform and even set time limits.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the new changes in a blog post on the platform’s website earlier this week. Mosseri also detailed the new “Take a Break” feature that Instagram introduced a couple of months ago.

With the “Take a Break” feature, Instagram will notify users after they have been scrolling on the platform for a while and suggest that they take a break. The feature goes a step further, allowing users to set their own timed reminders to be notified when they should take a break from scrolling through the platform.

Mosseri also went on to detail some additional protections that the company plans to implement in on Instagram. Additional changes include stopping people from tagging teens in posts and being more strict about what gets recommended to teens on the platform.

READ MORE: Instagram adds some much-needed parental controls to the app

There’s also a feature that will nudge teen users away from a topic that they’ve been dwelling on too long.

All of these are currently in the works over at Instagram, with the exception of Take a Break. Take a Break is officially launching as a feature today in the US, Uk, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. And the platform plans to bring the feature to everyone by next year.

As for the other features mentioned, we will have to wait until next year. The platform is launching its new parental control features in March. The company is still testing the additional teen protection features with hopes to launch them sometime next year.

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