Tips on Setting Up Instagram Parental Controls

Parental Controls on Instagram

Despite their primary purpose for an adult audience, social media apps are incredibly attractive to teenagers and younger children, being something of a forbidden fruit. It will probably sound obvious, but we cannot completely deny children access to the Internet, social networks, and content. However, we can monitor and control it wisely, as described in the PhoneSpector review. In the case of Instagram, it is still in our power to keep Instagram safe using the built-in Instagram parental controls.

Setting Up Parental Controls on Instagram

So let's start from the very beginning: what kind of beast this parental control on Insta is (otherwise known as the Family Center), where to find it, and how to activate it. Now, if you get your gadget in your hand, it’s easy to check and configure:

  1. Open your Instagram app and click on Profile in the lower right corner.
  2. Next, click on the hamburger menu in the top right corner and tap on Settings and Privacy.
  3. Scroll down a little, and you will see the Supervision section. Click on it to create and share an invitation.

If you’re wondering, “Can you put parental controls on Instagram once and for all?” - this is not entirely possible. First, on the recipient's (child's) device, there will be an option to decline your Instagram supervision request or click on delete supervision later. Therefore, this step should be agreed upon and mutual.

Privacy Settings

Once you establish parental supervision over a child's account, you will be able to monitor and personally manage their account settings, which include keeping the account private or public, blocking other accounts, determining time limits and screen time, reporting inappropriate people or comments, managing and deleting comments, and enabling filtering of offensive language and spam in DMs.

Please note that Instagram parental control can only be activated for 13+ users and is automatically deactivated once they turn 18.

Setting Up Your Kid’s IG Account to Private

Each Instagram user has the opportunity to maintain their social media account in two modes – private and public. The private mode is more suitable for those who want to manually select those who will view their posts, subscribers, and stories by accepting requests from followers, while the content of a public Instagram account can be accessed by anyone, even people who do not have an Insta account.

It is obvious that it is impossible to fully implement Instagram parental controls and protect the page of a minor from prying eyes in the case of a public account. Therefore, here’s your instruction on how to switch to a private account:

  1. After adding your teen’s Instagram account for supervision as above, click on your profile, hamburger menu, and Supervision.
  2. Select the Accounts That You Supervise and click on your child's profile, then on Account Privacy.
  3. Move the toggle to the right, making the account private.

Blocking Instagram Accounts

As you might have guessed, one of the most important reasons for the existence of parental controls on Instagram is the adult intervention if another user writes threats or some indecent things to their child, for example, through direct messages. Then your steps could be as follows:

  1. Click on your kid’s profile as described above. Go to the offender's account by clicking on their icon in the chat or entering their nickname manually in the Block section.
  2. Select the option you consider necessary (block, restrict, or report).
  3. Click Block… and Other Accounts They May Have or Create if you want to ensure maximum security for your child.

Reporting About Unacceptable Content

You can report inappropriate content or behavior from a user or page by clicking Report in your child's Account Settings. In addition, you have the supervision tools to get ahead of the possibility of inappropriate content reaching your child’s eyes in this way:

  1. Go to Settings, then Account.
  2. Click on Sensitive Content Control and Continue. Select the Less option to put the restrictions into effect.

Turning Comments Off Under a Specific Post

To disable offensive comments under a certain post and stay safe emotionally, there are two options available:

  • Open Settings, Privacy, Comments, and select Block Comments From. Then, choose users who leave bad comments.
  • You can also click directly on the post, then the three dots, and Turn off commenting. This will disable all comments for everyone.

Managing Comments in Bulk

And does Instagram have parental controls to turn off comments under a child’s post altogether? The answer is positive. This feature will come in handy if ill-wishers tend to leave rude comments that can have a negative impact on the child’s fragile psyche. To do this:

  1. Open Settings, tap on Privacy, and Hidden Words.
  2. Here, set the toggle active where you see fit (disabling comments, hiding comments with offensive overtones or certain words you can specify, etc.).

Deleting Multiple Comments at Once

If unwanted comments are an eyesore to you and your kid, the account user or parent can delete several comments at the same time – Instagram parental controls will help with this, too:

  1. Click on the hamburger menu and then Your Activity.
  2. Click on Comments and sort comments by author, for example.
  3. Click Select and choose the comments you want to delete.

Make Instagram Direct Messages Safe for Your Children

Finally, when figuring out how to restrict content on Instagram, you should pay attention to DMs or private messages on Instagram. If you have activated private mode, only people whose requests have been accepted, aka close friends and family, will be able to write to your child. In another case, to avoid spam or inappropriate messages from reaching your child’s eyes, you can hide message requests:

  1. Go to Hidden Words and find the Hide Message Requests section.
  2. Move the toggle to the right to enable the filter for offensive language, saved, and other malicious mentions.