Instagram launches parental supervision tools and a family center in India

Today, Instagram announced the roll out of its Parental Supervision Tools in India to help parents get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram. The platform is also introducing a Family Center, a new place for parents and guardians to access supervision tools and resources from leading experts. 

Meta has been working closely with experts, parents, guardians and young people from India, to understand the needs of parents and young people. One of the biggest needs continues to be tools and resources to educate parents about digital services. This education would allow parents and guardians to help their teens manage their online experiences. With this context, Meta launched Parental Supervision Controls and a Family Center in the US in March this year, and is now rolling it out to India.

Natasha Jog, Head, Public Policy, Instagram, Facebook India (Meta), commented, “The safety of our community is of paramount importance to us at Meta. The supervision tools and the Family Center will add to our efforts on keeping young people safe. Our intention is to strike the right balance for young people's desire for some autonomy when using Instagram, but also allows for supervision in a way that supports conversations between parents and young people when it is helpful. We’re thankful to all our expert partners in this space, who’s insights we continuously draw from, including for our launches today.”

New Supervision Tools on Instagram

The Supervision Tools on Instagram are available in India today, and will allow parents and guardians to:

• Manage how much time their young people spend on Instagram - Help young people manage their time on Instagram by setting screen time limits and scheduling breaks during the day and week
• View what accounts their young people follow and the accounts that follow their young people - Allows you to stay up to date with who your young person connects with on Instagram
• Be notified when their young people reports someone - Young people can choose to notify you if they make a report on Instagram, so you can discuss what happened together.

Meta will be working with Kidsstoppress.com, India’s leading and trusted discovery platform for parenting needs, to engage with parents and spread awareness of the tools. Mansi Zaveri, Founder & CEO of Kidsstoppress.com, said, “Having a safe and enriching online experience is one of the top concerns parents continually have. We’re glad Instagram is rolling out these supervision tools in India, and we’re looking forward to partnering with them, so the parenting community in India is aware and equipped with these tools, and can initiate a conversation with their teen on it.”

On Instagram, parents and guardians can send invitations to their young people to initiate Supervision Tools. Over the next few months we’ll roll out additional Supervision Tools and features in Family Centre. To learn how to set-up the Supervision Tools visit this website. 

An Education Hub for Parents and Guardians

Family Center includes a new education hub where parents and guardians can access resources from experts and review helpful articles, videos and tips on topics like how to talk to young people about social media. Parents can also watch video tutorials on how to use the new Supervision Tools to get the most out of the platform. 

Meta will be working with Yuvaa, a youth media and insights company, to drive awareness about these resources too. Nikhil Taneja, Co-founder & CEO of Yuvaa, said, “Young people today want to speak about their online experiences, but have apprehensions while doing so with their parents, because the generation gap for the Gen Zs has unfortunately become a communication gap. In our partnership  with Meta, we aim to bridge this gap and ensure the tools and resources launched today are a trigger for them to have a much-needed conversation.”

From India, the Center includes resources such as the Parents Guide, the ‘Dealing with Exam Stress’ guide developed in partnership with Fortis Mental Health, an LGBTQ guide on being safe online, developed in partnership with the Queer Muslim Project, the guide to ‘Buidling Health Digital Habits’ developed in partnership with the Young Leaders for Active Citizenship  (YLAC) and guides to creating safe spaces and managing your mental health. The Center will be available in English and Hindi.