Is Instagram Safe for Kids? An Instagram App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Instagram’s search feature means that kids can find inappropriate content like pornography, nudity, drug/alcohol content, and violent content in just a matter of seconds — it’s that easy. Technically, a lot of this content violates Instagram’s community guidelines, but new posts and accounts are added every single day, and it can take a while for offending posts to be flagged and taken down.  

Bullying and harassment are also big concerns on Instagram. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for kids to receive hurtful comments or direct messages from their peers. Instagram has tried to address this through a feature called “nudging“. This is essentially a notification that will pop up if a user types out a potentially offensive comment, reminding them to be respectful before they post. While some stats show that this has helped change the behavior of Instagram users, the possibility of cyberbullying is still there and your kid could still face rude or harmful comments while on the app.

Also, thanks to Instagram’s vanishing message feature, kids can send and receive potentially explicit photos and texts. For families that have a hard stance against Snapchat, it’s important to know that Instagram is no better when it comes to risky messages that don’t leave a trace.

Predation 🚨

Predators often can be found wherever there are kids — and kids are definitely on Instagram. Children with no age-appropriate safety settings in place or without private accounts are vulnerable to manipulative adults who may comment or message them. This could lead to a grooming situation.

Instagram has been so known for its predator problem, in fact, that the company was spurred in 2021 to take greater steps to help protect kids. New accounts are private by default for children under 16, and some adults with questionable Instagram activity are blocked from interacting with teens.

Privacy 🔒

Users can make their Instagram profiles private, though they still may be found via search if they use their real name or a recognizable handle. Also, unless you actively disable DMs from strangers, private accounts can still receive them.  One way to double down on your child’s privacy is to require a private profile and also make sure they don’t use an actual photo for their profile picture or a variation of their name for their username.

It’s also a good idea to remind them not to put their school, sports league, or other info that may be used to contact them in their bio, which is viewable by everyone whether or not the account is private.

Parental Controls ✅

Instagram does have a fair amount of parental controls settings available to help protect your child while they use their app. The supervision feature is the strongest parental control, where a parent can connect their own Instagram account to their kids, to monitor the activity more closely. One major issue with this feature — and the additional parental controls listed below — is that these can be turned off at any time by your kid because there’s no lock or pin code feature. 

From the Settings menu in Instagram, you can:

• Hide offensive content through keyword blocking
• Control who can see your child’s posts and stories
• Allow or block comments from individuals or entirely
• Manage who can message your child
• Allow mentions 
• Limit unwanted interactions
• And more

Bark also provides help with managing Instagram. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to:

• Block Instagram entirely, if needed
• Manage when your child can use Instagram throughout the day
• Monitor your child’s posts, including images, videos, and captions (Android and iOS)
• Monitor direct messages (text only) and searches (Android only)

We’re continually advocating and working for Instagram to allow iOS monitoring.

So, should my kid download it?

Is Instagram safe for kids? Probably not until they’re about 15. Even with private accounts in place, Instagram exposes kids to lots of strangers and a ton of inappropriate content. The potential for cyberbullying is also pretty high.