With over two billion monthly users — and under the same ownership as its sister app, Facebook — the free photo and video sharing site Instagram is a behemoth of a social media platform. But for many parents, there’s one question on their minds: is Instagram safe?
That’s not surprising, since many of those users are young. Roughly 8% of Instagram users are between the ages of 13 and 17. There’s no data on Instagram use among children under the age of 13, because in order to open an account, you must be at least 13 years old.
But there is no practical way of verifying a person’s age. Among more than 2,000 children surveyed in a report from the nonprofit organisation Thorn, 45% of those under the age of 13 had an account on Instagram. In addition to being against the rules, using Instagram poses risks to younger children’s well-being.
As for teenagers, whether or not Instagram is a good thing isn’t necessarily cut-and-dried. While it’s an opportunity to foster social connections, the platform also runs the risk of enticing kids into endless, mindless scrolling and comparing themselves to others. For all kids, there’s also the risk of stumbling upon content that’s inappropriate for their age.
That’s where some parental guidance (and possibly intervention) can come into play in mitigating the risks of social media use. Keep these four safety concerns in mind when deciding whether to allow your children to use Instagram.
1. It’s loaded with scams and hackers on the attack
According to a Federal Trade Commission report, consumers have lost over $2 billion (£1.5 billion) from 2021 to 2023 in social media scams on platforms like Instagram. Teaching kids about the risks of being caught up in scams and how to recognise red flags is crucial when allowing them to use social networks.
Here are some popular scams that are often targeted towards children:
Someone sends free cheat codes or upgrades for a game via Instagram’s private messaging feature
Kids who are taken in by this kind of scam may end up losing their accounts and any photos or messages attached to them. Even worse, passwords or financial details can be stolen.
A stranger private messaging a child pretending to be a brand ambassador for a fake brand
Children may be flattered into this scam, susceptible as they are to positive affirmation. Conned by the promise of lots of commission, they may then find themselves being pressed to pay money upfront for notional “expenses”. This can have grave financial consequences.
Anything cryptocurrency-related
The aforementioned FTC report says that scammers often use cryptocurrency lures to try to scam people on social media. Large swathes of social media comments and content involving crypto may be linked to scams.
Fake online stores
Another alarming note from the FTC report is that the majority of money lost via social media scams is due to online shopping scams. Instagram has a feature that easily spotlights shopping ads alongside other posts within the child’s feed, making fraudulent posts less easily discernible.
Filtering out words that could be related to a financial scam (like crypto, wallstreetbets, invest or stimulus) can help reduce the number of scam-related posts or messages that your child receives. Here’s how to filter them out.
But when it comes to scams, the best option for a parent is often to establish open communication and to educate children on the nature of Instagram scams. Instead of outlawing social media use, which may motivate children to use it in secret, the best idea is to show them the basics of safe use so they can spend time online without you worrying about the risks.
2. Children could become victims of harassment
Another of the more malicious risks of social media use involves harassment from online predators. Studies have shown that children experience frequent harassment (often sexual in nature) on Instagram. The nonprofit organisation Thorn found that 26% of kids surveyed reported having had potentially harmful experiences on Instagram, with many of these interactions being sexual in nature.
Even more concerning is that the surveyed children were under the age of 13, which is below Instagram’s minimum age requirement. Children between the ages of 9 and 17 also reported sexual exploitation from peers and strangers on the internet, and that harassment increased if they identified as LGBTQ+.
Sexual harassment and exploitation is obviously a serious matter. Additional safety features can help supplement any education or support you offer your child regarding their online life. A wide array of parental control apps and online tools can be used to monitor your child’s online activity and make sure they’re safe from predators.
That said, even if you do enlist the help of various tools like parental control apps, open, honest communication is key, since much of a child’s interaction with others on the app will occur within private messages. This poses its own risks, primarily due to the disappearing message feature (Vanish Mode), which allows inappropriate photos and content to be sent without leaving a trace — unless someone takes a screenshot. Alarmingly, compromising content in screenshots can then take on a life of its own.
In this case, it’s important to observe the nature of the profiles interacting with your children. Following your child on social media and informally keeping up with their activity and interactions can offer insight into their online life.
3. It can potentially spur anxiety and depression
Social networks such as Instagram can foster compulsive affirmation-seeking behaviour, as kids get hooked on posting and receiving likes, comments and messages. This can be a source of worry and can contribute to issues such as anxiety and depression.
It’s important to note, however, that the data shows a correlation — not actual causation — between depression and social media use. Research published in 2020 notes: “Evidence from a variety of cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies implicate smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth.”
For kids as well as adults, scrolling through endless posts flaunting fun holidays, big purchases and exciting events can invite comparison and lead to feelings of low self-esteem, which has a depressive effect.
Again, Instagram and social media may not be the ultimate cause of depressive symptoms — but they could certainly act as a catalyst. Be on the alert for signs of depression in older children, which might include irritability, increased isolation, or different sleeping and eating patterns, according to the NHS. If they are exhibiting worrisome symptoms, you may wish to consider seeking mental health support for them.
4. The platform can promote unattainable or unhealthy lifestyles
Like many social media platforms, Instagram can be a purveyor of problematic content relating to body image and disordered eating. But there’s a major difference that makes Instagram even more dangerous than other platforms: it’s based on lifestyle images.
Curated images may come with hashtags such as #thinspo or #thinspiration, which promote disordered eating in an attempt to emulate the look shown in the picture — which may itself be doctored or Facetuned, creating an unrealistic ideal. Filtering out this content is a good idea, but content creators are often a step ahead, creating new hashtags and workarounds.
One study noted that kids who spent more time on social media (particularly those who scrolled through appearance-focused images and videos) were more likely to have negative body image and/or disordered eating patterns. And here’s a titbit for parents whose children may believe that the images coming across their feed are an accurate representation of human bodies: 2021 research from the journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigative Dermatology noted that one quarter of the 500 participants in a study had edited more than 40% of the photos they posted on social media to clear skin lesions and other perceived imperfections. (Granted, the study focuses solely on skin, but it can be beneficial to recognise how widespread photo editing can be.)
The bottom line is to keep a watchful eye — but know there’s a lot that can happen beyond your supervision.
So is Instagram safe for kids? As with many questions, it depends. It’s possible to track a child’s Instagram use with parental control apps and other technological tools, such as the supervision feature — but establishing communication and trust is key. After all, kids can decide to overrule their parents and turn off these features at will. An open and honest relationship where kids feel safe to ask questions and seek advice on their online lives is more likely to reap rewards in the long run.
