Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts: how built-in protections help keep your teen safe
Written by Meta
8 April 2025
Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts protections, including 13+ content settings, are designed to give parents peace of mind, knowing that protective settings are automatically on – without parents having to do anything.
13+ content settings with additional protections for teens are being rolled out in phases on Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts over the course of this year.
Built-in protections for teens
We want teens to have safer and more positive online experiences, and we've designed Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts to help address parents’ biggest concerns. Facebook and Messenger users aged 13 to 17 will automatically have all of the following features:
- Audience restrictions: Teen Accounts settings will be automatically set to Friends for who can see their posts, stories, reels, friends list and Pages that they follow.
- Age-appropriate restrictions: teens will be limited in their ability to follow, search for, interact with or see content from profiles or Pages that primarily share content inappropriate for teens when in the 13+ setting.
- Search: we already block search terms related to certain sensitive topics, like suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. Now, we'll block teens' ability to see content results for a wider range of mature search terms, such as "alcohol" or "gore" – and we're working to make sure that these terms will still be blocked if they're misspelt.
- Messaging restrictions: teens will automatically have more protective message delivery settings. Only Facebook friends or other connections (e.g. people they have messaged before) can chat with them. People with their phone number can send them message requests. Teens’ ability to message or interact with profiles and Pages that primarily share content inappropriate for teens will be limited.
- Content restrictions: Teens will typically see content, such as posts, reels and stories, that's similar to what they would see in content rated for ages 13+.
- Live broadcast restrictions: Live broadcasting is defaulted to off for all teens under 18. Teens under 16 will require parental supervision to turn this feature on.
- Limited interactions: Teens will need to review posts in which they are tagged before the post appears on their profile. Teen Accounts will also have the "Allow anyone to remix your future public reels" setting set to off.
- Time limit reminders: teens will get notifications telling them to close Facebook after 60 minutes each day.
- Sleep mode enabled: sleep mode will be turned on between 22:00 and 07:00, which will mute Facebook notifications overnight.
Using supervision with Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts
Supervision is a set of tools and insights that parents and guardians can use to help support their teens (aged 13-17, or 14-17 in some regions) on Facebook and Messenger. With Teen Accounts, supervision also enables parents and guardians to view their teen's safety settings and approve or deny their requests to make certain settings less protective. Parents and guardians can also set time limits and make other teen safety settings even more protective.
When supervision is set up with Teen Accounts, a parent can:
- Manage their teen's time on Facebook with daily limit and sleep mode.
- Approve or deny their teen's request to make certain settings less protective.
- See insights about how their teen uses Facebook and Messenger, including their Facebook friends, Messenger contact list and who they've blocked.
If supervision has been set up on a Teen Account, a parent or guardian will need to approve changes that make Teen Account settings less protective, unless a teen has been given permission to update their settings on their own.
More information on how the Supervision tool works can be found here Frequently asked questions about parent or guardian supervision for Teen Accounts.
Tips to help parents build peace of mind
Teen Accounts are a great start for your teens, but open and honest conversations with your teen about their online usage are always the most effective way to ensure their online experiences are positive. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Talk to your teen about online safety: encourage your teen to be thoughtful and responsible about what they create and share with others.
- Set boundaries and expectations: be clear with your teen on how you will utilise supervision tools to set limits on their screen time and monitor their activity.
- Stay involved: take an active interest in your teen's online life and ask them questions about their experiences regularly to help them remain safe.
Additional resources
The Meta Family Centre has dozens of articles for parents with teens using social media. For additional support, visit our Resource hub or take a look at one of the below articles:
- Five steps to support your child online | Family Centre
- Age-appropriate content online: what it means for parents
- Starting conversations with your children about their digital persona | Family Centre
- Parenting tips for social media | Family Centre
- Talking with teens about healthy online interactions | Family Centre
At Meta, we're dedicated to helping you keep your teen safer online. With Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts, your teen is protected by a range of features and tools designed to create a more secure and positive digital environment. By working together, we can help your teen build healthier online habits and enjoy a safer online experience.
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