Meta has activated teen accounts for Facebook and Messenger users worldwide, giving 13 to 17-year-olds extra safety protections, content filters, and parental controls. The move marks a major step in online child safety as hundreds of millions of teens are now automatically placed under these enhanced digital safeguards.
Dubai, UAE: Meta has expanded its “teen accounts” feature to Facebook and Messenger users aged 13 to 17 across the globe. This rollout follows a successful pilot in English-speaking markets and reflects the company’s growing focus on digital safety and content moderation for younger audiences.
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Meta’s “teen accounts” are a special class of accounts designed with additional protections, content filters, and parental controls tailored to adolescent users. Previously available on Instagram, the feature has now been extended to Facebook and Messenger, allowing teens to benefit from consistent safety tools across Meta’s family of apps.
The decision to go global came after the company placed “hundreds of millions” of teen users on these protected accounts during its pilot phase. The protections are aimed at limiting who teens can communicate with, controlling the type of content they see, and giving parents more oversight over their digital activity.
Meta said that the platform’s teen account restrictions can’t be removed without parental consent for users under 16. For ages 16 to 17, teens may have some flexibility under parental guidelines.
With a teen account on Facebook and Messenger, some of the notable safety and behavioral changes include:
These controls are intended to strike a balance between safety and autonomy, giving teens room to explore while maintaining guardrails.
Meta had already introduced teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger in certain English-speaking countries. With the global expansion, all eligible users aged 13 to 17 around the world will now be placed under these protections by default.
As of the announcement, Meta claims that hundreds of millions of teens across its platforms are now under teen accounts, underscoring the scale of the rollout.
For UAE teens and their families, the global activation of such accounts offers a stronger digital safety framework. Social media, messaging, and online communities play a central role in youthful connection and learning—but also bring risks such as exposure to unsuitable content, cyberbullying, or online predators. The additional protections offered by Meta may help mitigate those risks.
Schools may also welcome these changes, as digital literacy and online safety are already key aspects of modern curricula. Guidance on social media usage often forms part of student orientations; now, with formal safety tools from platforms themselves, educators can better align policies and teaching with platform behavior.
Parents, meanwhile, should become familiar with how the new system works—how permissions can be set, when parental consent is needed, and how to monitor usage. Open communication with teens about online risks and boundaries remains critical, even with technical safeguards in place.
While the initiative is broadly welcomed, it is not without challenges or criticism:
Meta will likely monitor feedback, usage metrics, and regions’ unique challenges to refine the teen account model.
Meta’s move reflects broader pressure on tech companies to better protect younger users. Regulators globally have tightened rules around children, data privacy, and platform responsibilities. By rolling out teen accounts, Meta positions itself proactively in an environment where scrutiny is increasing.
Furthermore, offering safer youth experiences supports Meta’s long-term strategy of retaining younger cohorts on its platforms. Keeping teens engaged safely may reduce the risk of them migrating to less regulated social networks.
Meta’s global activation of teen accounts marks a significant step in the evolution of social media safety. As more companies adopt stricter moderation for younger users, the boundary between free expression and protection for youth will be tested and refined.
For UAE’s digital ecosystem, the rollout can complement local efforts to promote safe online behavior among youth. As teens, parents, educators, and policymakers adjust to this new normal, the goal remains to ensure that the digital sphere is a positive space for learning, connection, and growth—without exposing vulnerable users to undue harm.
The coming months will likely see Meta gather user feedback, fine-tune content filtering models for regional norms, and perhaps expand teen account capabilities further into other Meta platforms. If successful, these safety measures could define new industry standards for youth digital rights and responsibilities.
