Controls & Settings guide
Instagram features a number of functions to help your child manage who can see their content and how they interact with others. They can also use the reporting function to flag content that breaks community guidelines and upsets them.
A Instagram account (username and password) and the app
Chatting 
Cyberbullying 
Inappropriate content 
Privacy and identity theft 
Social networking These steps were created using an Android smartphone:
A private Instagram account will hide your images from strangers. It also means people need to request to follow and message you, limiting who can contact you.
Step 1 – from your feed on the home screen, tap your profile picture in the bottom right to get to your profile. Then tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right.
Step 2 – tap Settings then Privacy. At the top under Account privacy, tap the toggle so it turns blue.
If you or your teen come across content or profiles that are inappropriate or go against Instagram’s guidelines, you can report them. This will help make the app safe for all users.
Step 1 – tap 
Step 2 – tap Report. Select the appropriate reason to submit a report. You can then choose to block, restrict or unfollow the user as well.
Step 1 – go to their profile by tapping on their username or searching for them.
Step 2 – select the 3 dots in the top right corner and tap Report… then Report account. Then select the reason to submit the report.
Reporting is totally anonymous. You can also use this Instagram form to make a report about bullying or harassment.
When you report on Instagram, it will be reviewed by moderators and they will take action if it breaks community guidelines.
If someone is in immediate danger contact the police or other local authorities.
Blocking users stops you from seeing their messages and keeps them from finding your profile or its content on Instagram. They aren’t notified if you block them.
Step 1 – in your social feed, tap their username to go to their profile.
Step 2 – in the top right corner, tap the 3 dots and Block. You will then be asked if you want to block the account and any others they create or just that account. There is also an option Block and Report. Tap Block.
Step 1 – go to your profile > Settings > Privacy. Scroll to Connections and tap Blocked accounts.
Step 2 – you can unblock anyone here or tap the + in the top right to add another user. Search their name or username and tap Block. Choose whether to just block that account or any other accounts they may create.
If you feel like you’re being targeted or harassed, you can turn Limits on to temporarily unwanted comments and messages.
Step 1 – go to your profile > Settings > Privacy > Limits. Tap continue.
Step 2 – choose who you would like to limit and for how long. You can limit Accounts that aren’t following you as well as Recent followers. Then you can set a time limit from 1 day to 4 weeks. Tap Turn on.
Note that this is not necessary for private accounts and users who have followed you for a long time will not be affected. To stop them contacting you, block or restrict their accounts.
Restrict is a way to protect your account from unwanted interactions. If someone is being aggressive or negative in your comment section, you can put them on a “Restricted” list.
Step 1 – go to the user’s profile and tap the 3 dots in the top right corner.
Step 2 – tap Restrict. To unrestrict them, follow the same instructions and select Unrestrict.
Step 1 – go to your Settings > Privacy. Scroll to Connections and tap Restricted accounts.
Step 2 – search for the user you wish to restrict and tap Restrict next to their name.
If you don’t want to see someone’s posts in your feed but don’t wish to unfollow them, you can mute them instead.
Step 1 – go to their profile and tap Following.
Step 2 – in the menu that comes up, tap Mute. Choose to mute their Posts and/or Stories here.
You can also do this by going to your profile and follower list. Tap the 3 dots next to the follower you wish to mute and then tap Mute.
Instagram won’t let them know you muted them.
There are multiple ways to unfollow a user.
Step 1 – tap on the 3 dots in the top right corner of their post and select Unfollow.
Step 1 – go to their profile by tapping on their username or searching for them.
Step 2 – tap Following then Unfollow.
Step 1 – tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner to go to your profile.
Step 2 – tap Following in the top right corner and scroll or search for the user you wish to unfollow. Tap Following next to their name and Unfollow.
You can allow or block comments from people you follow and your followers.
Step 1 – create a new post. Once you’re ready to submit, tap on Advanced Settings at the bottom of the screen.
Step 2 – under Comments, tap the toggle next to Turn off commenting. When it’s blue, no one will be able to comment on the posted picture.
Step 3 – click Submit to post your image.
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner. Tap Settings.
Step 2 – tap Privacy and then Comments.
Step 3 – search for the user you’d like to block from commenting and tap Block next to their name.
They will be able to comment and see their comments, but you won’t be able to see them.
In addition to turning off comments or blocking users, you can also set up filters to hide inappropriate or offensive comments.
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap 
Step 2 – tap Privacy then Hidden words.
Step 3 – toggle Hide Comments on to filter and hide potentially offensive comments automatically. Toggle Advanced comment filtering on to make this feature more strict.
Toggle on Hide Message Requests to filter out messages that may be offensive.
Step 4 – on the same page as above, scroll under Custom words and phrases. Tap Manage custom words and phrases to add these words and phrases to your list. You can toggle on Hide Comments and Hide Message Requests, which will hide content that contains the words or phrases you set.
Hiding likes and views on your posts can take away the pressure to get a certain amount of engagement by posting frequently. It lets users post what they want without any pressure.
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right. Then tap Settings.
Step 2 – tap Privacy and then Posts. Toggle Hide like and view counts to blue.
On this page, you can also manage who can tag you in their posts and stories.
To limit who can call out your account, you can manage who is allowed to mention your account in their posts, stories, comments and live videos. When they try to mention you, they will see if you don’t allow mentions.
Step 1 – go to your profile > Settings > Privacy and then tap Mentions.
Step 2 – choose who you want the ability to mention you in their content. For young people, People you follow and No one are preferred for safety.
Choose who can view, reply and share your stories.
Step 1 – go to your Privacy settings and tap Story.
Step 2 – under Viewing and Hide story from, you can add individual users or limit to Close friends. Under Replying, you can toggle who can reply to your story. Under Sharing, you can toggle whether to let followers share your story in messages next to Allow sharing to messages.
Note: users on the Hide story from list will not be allowed to view your Instagram live videos either.
To limit how much time you or your teen are spending on the platform, you can set reminders and limits on the app.
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner. Tap Your activity.
Step 2 – tap Time Spent. From here, you can set reminders to take breaks, set daily use limits or review notification settings. You will receive messages and reminders from Instagram to take breaks if these options are set up.
To limit how much you’re encouraged to use the platform or to help you take longer breaks, you can manage when and how you’re notified about activity on Instagram.
Step 1 – go to your profile > Settings > Notifications.
Step 2 – you can Pause all notifications by tapping the toggle and selecting how long. This could be an option for school hours or bedtime.
You can manually manage notifications for Posts, stories and comments, Following and followers and more from this menu.
You can also manage email notifications here.
You can use the “Close Friends” setting on Stories so that only certain people see them. People who are unable to see the story won’t know that they are missing something.
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner.
Step 2 – tap Close friends and search for the users to add to the group or choose from the users listed under Suggested. Tap the circle next to their name to add them.
Together with your child, you can manage privacy and security on the platform with Supervision.
Step 1 – Go to > > , and send an invite to your teen’s account.
Step 2 – Your teen needs to accept the invite to enable supervision.
Instagram has introduced ‘teen accounts’, which automatically switches on all privacy settings for accounts owned by teens aged 13-17 years old.
If you are creating the account with your child, you will not need to take any action to make their account a ‘teen account’, as this is applied by default to any account with a date of birth that puts them in this age range.
However, if your child is 16-17 years old, they can choose to switch privacy the settings off. If your child is under 16 though, they will need your permission before being able to reduce the strictness of any settings.
TO VIEW ACCOUNTS YOU SUPERVISE AND MAKE CHANGES TO SAFETY SETTINGS:
Step 1 – go to your profile and tap the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner.
Step 2 – Tap the ‘Family Center’ option.
Step 3 – On the Family Center, click the account you supervise that you want to make changes to.
Step 4 – Now you can view all the settings you would like to change, such as who can message them, and you can also view who your child has been contacting.
See how the introduction of teen accounts will improve teen safety on the app.
Follow these links to learn more or download this information