Instagram Release Notes

Takeaways

• Instagram will start notifying parents if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time.
• These alerts are designed to give parents the information they need to support their teen and come with expert resources to help parents approach these sensitive conversations.
• Meta is also building similar parental notifications for teens’ conversations with AI, to come later this year.

In the coming weeks, Instagram will start notifying parents using supervision if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period of time. This is the latest protection for Teen Accounts and Instagram’s parental supervision features.

We understand how sensitive these issues are, and how distressing it could be for a parent to receive an alert like this. The vast majority of teens do not try to search for suicide and self-harm content on Instagram, and when they do, our policy is to block these searches, instead directing them to resources and helplines that can offer support. These alerts are designed to make sure parents are aware if their teen is repeatedly trying to search for this content, and to give them the resources they need to support their teen.

How the Alerts Will Work

Next week, parents and teens enrolled in supervision will be notified that Instagram will start sending these new alerts to parents, based on their teens’ search activity. Attempted searches that would prompt the alert include phrases promoting suicide or self-harm, phrases that suggest a teen wants to harm themselves, and terms like ‘suicide’ or ‘self-harm’.

The alerts will be sent to parents via email, text, or WhatsApp, depending on the contact information available, as well as through an in-app notification. Tapping on the notification will open a full-screen message explaining that their teen has repeatedly tried to search Instagram for terms associated with suicide or self-harm within a short period of time. Parents will also have the option to view expert resources designed to help them approach potentially sensitive conversations with their teen.

These alerts will roll out to parents who use Instagram’s parental supervision tools in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada next week, and will become available in other regions later this year.

Striking the Right Balance

Our goal is to empower parents to step in if their teen’s searches suggest they may need support. We also want to avoid sending these notifications unnecessarily, which, if done too much, could make the notifications less useful overall.

“When a young person searches about suicide or self-harm, empowering a parent to step in can be extremely important. The fact that Meta has now built this in is a meaningful step forward and is the kind of change that child safety experts have been pushing for.”
– Dr Sameer Hinduja, Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center

In working to strike this important balance, we analyzed Instagram search behavior and consulted with experts from our Suicide and Self-Harm Advisory Group. We chose a threshold that requires a few searches within a short period of time, while still erring on the side of caution. While that means we may sometimes notify parents when there may not be real cause for concern, we feel — and experts agree — that this is the right starting point, and we’ll continue to monitor and listen to feedback to make sure we’re in the right place.

“It’s vital that parents have the information they need to support their teens. This is a really important step that should help give parents greater peace of mind – if their teen is actively trying to look for this type of harmful content on Instagram, they’ll know about it.”
– Vicki Shotbolt, CEO Parent Zone

Building on Existing Protections

These alerts build on our existing work to help protect teens from potentially harmful content on Instagram. We have strict policies against content that promotes or glorifies suicide or self-harm and, while we do allow people to share content about their own struggles with these issues, we hide this content from teens, even if it’s shared by someone they follow.

We work to block searches for terms clearly associated with suicide and self-harm, including terms that violate our suicide and self-harm policies. This means we don’t show any results and instead direct people to resources and local organizations that can help. We also direct people to resources and helplines when their searches aren’t clearly related to suicide and self-harm, but mental health more broadly. We’ll continue to alert the emergency services when we become aware of anyone at imminent risk of physical harm — actions that have saved lives.

We’re launching these alerts on Instagram search first, but we know teens are increasingly turning to AI for support. While our AI is already trained to respond safely to teens and provide resources on these topics as appropriate, we’re now building similar parental alerts for certain AI experiences. These will notify parents if a teen attempts to engage in certain types of conversations related to suicide or self-harm with our AI. This is important work and we’ll have more to share in the coming months.

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Takeaways

• Today we’re excited to start testing Instagram for TV, bringing reels from your favorite creators to the big screen so you can enjoy them with friends.
• We’ve heard from our community that watching reels together is more fun, and this test is designed to learn which features make that experience work best on TV.
• Reels are grouped into channels that match your interests, including new music, sports highlights, hidden travel gems, trending moments, and more.
• Over time, we’re exploring new features, including using your phone as a remote, intuitive ways to channel surf, shared feeds with friends, and making it easier to keep up with your favorite creators in one place.

Today we’re excited to start testing Instagram for TV, bringing reels from your favorite creators to the big screen so you can enjoy them with friends. We’ve heard from our community that watching reels together is more fun, and this test is designed to learn which features make that experience work best on TV.
The app is available in the US on Amazon Fire TV devices, and as we learn from this test, we will expand to more devices and countries.

Getting Started

Start by installing the Instagram app on your Fire TV and signing in with your account. You can also open it directly from the Settings bookmark in the Instagram mobile app. You can add up to five accounts, so everyone in your home can enjoy a personalized way to watch Reels. If you want, you can even create a separate account just for Instagram on TV in a few simple steps.

Explore Reels in Channels

When you log in, reels are grouped into channels that match your interests, including new music, sports highlights, hidden travel gems, trending moments, and more. This is an early test, so the experience will continue to evolve as we explore new ways to watch and learn what people enjoy most. When something catches your eye, reels play automatically with full sound so you can lean back and watch without having to scroll for what’s next.

Enjoy More of What You Love

Search makes it easy to find your favorite creators, browse profiles centered on Reels, and explore anything you are interested in. Over time, we plan to introduce new features, which may include using your phone as a remote, a more intuitive way to channel surf, shared feeds with friends, and making it easier to keep up with your favorite creators in one place.

Safety and Content Standards

Instagram for TV is built for shared viewing, so we apply content standards suitable for a broad audience. In this test, Reels generally follow the PG-13 rating system we recently introduced on mobile. These guidelines shape what may appear on TV.
For teens, Instagram for TV is intended to reflect the same general safeguards available on the Instagram mobile app. This includes limiting access to content, comments and profiles that may be unsuitable for people under 18. Time spent on Instagram for TV contributes to a Teen Account’s overall usage limits, and teens may receive the same reminders about approaching or reaching those limits or sleep mode.
We’re learning and planning to improve Instagram for TV based on your feedback.
Download the app on an Amazon Fire TV device today.

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Today, we’re starting to test Instagram for TV, which brings reels from your favorite creators to the big screen so you can enjoy them with friends.

We’ve heard from people that watching reels together is more fun, and this test is designed to learn which features make that experience work best on TV.

Reels on Instagram for TV are grouped into channels that match your interests, including new music, sports highlights, hidden travel gems, trending moments, and more.

Today, we’re starting to test Instagram for TV, which brings reels from your favorite creators to the big screen so you can enjoy them with friends. We heard that watching reels together is more enjoyable, and this test will help us learn which features make that experience work best on TV.

Instagram for TV is available now in the US on Amazon Fire TV devices, and we’ll expand the app to more countries and devices in the future.

How to Get Started

First, install the Instagram app on your Amazon Fire TV and sign in to your account. You can also set up Instagram for TV through the Settings and activity menu in the mobile app. You can add up to five accounts on Instagram for TV, so everyone in your home can enjoy a personalized way to watch reels. You can also create a separate Instagram for TV account that isn’t linked to your profile in a few simple steps.

Explore Reels in Channels

When you log in, reels will be grouped into channels that match your interests, including new music, sports highlights, hidden travel gems, trending moments, and more. Once you select a reel, you can kick back and relax as more reels play automatically with full sound without having to scroll for what’s next.

Over time, we plan to introduce new features to the app, like using your phone as a remote to browse, different ways to channel surf, shared feeds with friends, and making it easier to keep up with your favorite creators in one place.

Applying Safety and Content Standards

Instagram for TV is built for shared viewing, so we apply content standards suitable for a broad audience. In this test, Reels generally follow the PG-13 rating system we recently introduced on the mobile app, so you’ll see content similar to what you might see in a PG-13 movie.

For teens, Instagram for TV is intended to reflect the same general safeguards that are available on the Instagram mobile app. This includes limiting access to content, comments, and profiles that may be unsuitable for people under the age of 18. Time spent on Instagram for TV contributes to a Teen Account’s usage limit alongside their mobile app usage, and teens may receive the same reminders about approaching or reaching those limits or Sleep mode.

We’re learning and planning to improve Instagram for TV based on your feedback. Download the app on an Amazon Fire TV device today.

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Today, we’re excited to announce a new way to control your Instagram experience, starting with the Reels tab. Your interests change – and now using AI, your algorithm can change with you.
Instagram has always been a place to dive deep into your interests and connect with friends. As your interests evolve over time, we want to give you more meaningful ways to control what you see on Instagram, starting with Reels. Using AI, you can now more easily view and personalize the topics that shape your Reels, making recommendations feel even more tailored to you.

See and Control your Reels Algorithm

When you’re watching Reels, look for the icon in the upper right corner (two lines with hearts). Tap it to open Your Algorithm. You can see what topics we think you’re interested in, tell us which topics you want to see more or less of, and your recommendations will adapt.

• See your top interests:
  View a summary of the topics Instagram thinks you care about most, right at the top.
• Tune your preferences:
  Type in the topics you want to see more or less of, and your Reels will reflect your choices.
• Share your algorithm:
  If you’d like, you can share your interests to your Story, so friends and followers can see what you’re into.

You can also access Your Algorithm by navigating to Content preferences and tapping on Your algorithm within Settings and activity.

Instagram is leading the way in giving you more control, so your Reels feel relevant and made for you. We’re starting with the Reels tab, and are planning to bring this ability to Explore, and more places in the app soon.

This new feature is available starting today in the US and rolling out globally in English soon. We’re still early in this journey, and will keep refining and improving the experience over time.

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Restyle with Meta AI

Whether you want to simply remove an unwanted detail from your story, include a playful element, change the vibe using a whimsical effect, or start a trend with your friends with Add Yours stickers, now you can. Restyle your photos and videos in Instagram Stories to make edits, big or small using Meta AI.

To restyle your photos

• Click on the + on your profile photo to select an image from your camera roll to add to your story.
• After selecting your photo, click on the restyle icon in the top tray.

Make edits to your image by either:

• Choosing Add, Remove, or Change and then describing what you want to edit.
• Typing into the prompt bar at the bottom the edits you want.
• Scrolling to select one of the preset effects above the prompt bar.
• Clicking on the browser icon in the bottom right for even more preset effect options.
  Once your new image is generated you can click “Done” before sharing your story.

To restyle your videos

• Click on the + on your profile photo to select a video from your camera roll to add to your story.
• After selecting your video, click on the restyle icon in the top tray.
• Select a preset effect.
• Once your new video is generated you can click “Done” before sharing your story.

Here are some examples of ways people have enjoyed using restyle

Remove unwanted items and add some flair

Easily restyle your photos and videos in IG Stories, and make your content your own by removing or adding elements. With the ‘remove’ feature in restyle, you can get rid of unwanted elements from the background of your photos. With the ‘add’ and ‘change’ features, you can easily prompt Meta AI to create your vision, whether it’s asking to change your hair color for a fun twist, adding a crown or some balloons to celebrate your best friend’s birthday story post, or adding a sunset background to your selfie – restyling your images can make those small edits that make all the difference.

Show off creativity with preset effects

Experiment with your fashion by using preset effects like ‘sunglasses,’ ‘biker jacket’ or even ‘black clothes’ to transform your outfits. Or you can change the whole style of the image itself to make it look like a watercolor or film noir. Better yet, use these presets as a starting point to spark creativity. You can apply any effect and then type in additional changes you want to make to edit your content in seconds.
There are also several preset effects for short videos. You can transform the style, background, and outfits in your videos. You can turn your whole video into an underwater landscape, add fire and flames all around, or even add snow.

How to write great prompts

We want to give you the creative freedom to edit your photos exactly how you want. The more specific and detailed your prompt, the better Meta AI can match your vision.

Some things to consider:

• Subject (like “add a crown on top of the girl’s head”)
• Lighting and mood (like “add dramatic lighting”, “have light from just a single paparazzi flash”)
• Composition needs (like “in the bottom left corner”, “in the background”)
• Style (like “make photorealistic”, “film noir style”)
• Location (“in outer space”, “in Paris”)

Use the Add Yours sticker to start a trend

Using Add Yours stickers will make it easy for friends to use the same edits you made. You can get inspiration from your friends or start your very own viral trend! If you want others to be able to make the same edits, apply an Add Yours sticker, which you can access by swiping up on your restyled image before sharing to your story.
And if you see an image that was restyled with an Add Yours sticker, you can click on Add Yours, select the image you want restyled from your camera library, and then post. Keep that Add Yours sticker on so more and more friends can hop on the trend.

It’s free and easy to restyle your photos and videos, right in the app you’re already using. Share with your friends and followers in your story or share more privately in DMs.
Get ready to make your photos and videos truly your own with Meta AI!

For more tips & tricks on creating with Meta AI on Instagram, click here. To learn more about Meta AI on Instagram, visit the Help Center.

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Update on December 19, 2025 at 4:50PM PT

This article, including the headline, has been updated to clarify that our updates to Teen Accounts were inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+. There are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, and they’re not rating content on Instagram. Rather, we drew inspiration from the MPA's public guidelines, which are already familiar to parents.

Takeaways

• Instagram is revamping Teen Accounts, inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+. This means teens will see content that’s similar to what they’d see in an age-appropriate movie, by default.
• Parents who prefer extra controls can also choose a new, stricter setting.
• We’re also offering parents new ways to share feedback, including the ability to report content they think teens shouldn’t see.

Today, we’re announcing that Instagram Teen Accounts will be inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+ by default. This means that teens will see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they’d see in an age-appropriate movie. Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ setting, and they won’t be able to opt out without a parent’s permission. And because we know that all families are different, we’re also introducing a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen. We invited thousands of parents worldwide to share their feedback with us, helping us shape these changes and ensure our efforts align with their expectations.

This is the most significant update to Teen Accounts since we introduced them last year, and builds on the automatic protections already provided by Teen Accounts to hundreds of millions of teens globally. We know teens may try to avoid these restrictions, which is why we’ll use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections — even if they claim to be adults.

Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a movie rated for ages 13+, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram — but we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible. We recognize no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time. We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default, while also giving them more ways to shape their teen’s experience.

Updating Our Content Policies for Teens, Inspired by Movie Ratings for Ages 13+

Teen Accounts were already designed to protect teens from inappropriate content and, over the past year, we’ve further refined our age-appropriate guidelines to hide even more potentially inappropriate content in the updated default 13+ content setting.

We decided to more closely align our policies with an independent standard that parents are familiar with, so we reviewed our age-appropriate guidelines against movie ratings for ages 13+ and updated them accordingly. While of course there are differences between movies and social media, we made these changes so teens’ experiences in the 13+ setting feel closer to the Instagram equivalent of watching a movie that’s been rated appropriate for 13+.

In addition to our longstanding policies — which already hide or prohibit the recommendation of sexually suggestive content, graphic or disturbing images, and adult content like tobacco or alcohol sales from teens — our updated policies will now go even further. This includes hiding or not recommending posts with strong language, certain risky stunts, and additional content that could encourage potentially harmful behaviors, such as posts showing marijuana paraphernalia.

In a recent survey conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Meta, 95% of US parents of teens said they think these updated settings will be helpful, and 90% said they’ll make it easier to understand the kind of content their teen is likely to see on Instagram.

Expanding Protections Across Teen Accounts

We spent several months improving and refining our technology to proactively identify content that goes against our updated guidelines, and we’re using this improved technology across Instagram, including:

• Accounts: Teens will no longer be able to follow accounts that we’ve found regularly share age-inappropriate content, or if their name or bio suggests the account is inappropriate for teens. If teens already follow these accounts, they’ll no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send them DMs, or see their comments under anyone’s posts. We won’t recommend these accounts to teens, and we’ll make it harder for teens to find these accounts in Search. These protections work both ways: these accounts won’t be able to follow teens, send them DMs, or comment on their posts.
• 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 these terms will still be blocked if they’re misspelled.
• Content Experience: Teens shouldn’t see content that goes against our updated guidelines in recommendations (Explore, Reels, and in-Feed), Feed, and Stories — even when shared by someone they follow — or comments. If someone sends a teen a link to such content in DMs, they won’t be able to open it.
• AI: We’ve also updated our AI experiences for teens, inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+, meaning AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a movie rated for ages 13+.

Introducing Limited Content: A New, Stricter Setting for Parents Who Prefer Extra Controls

Every family is different and, for some parents, movies rated for ages 13+ may still feel too mature for their teen. That’s why we’re introducing a new, stricter setting called ‘Limited Content,’ which will filter even more content from the Teen Account experience. It will also remove teens’ ability to see, leave, or receive comments under posts. Starting next year, this setting will also further restrict the AI conversations teens can have.

The new Limited Content setting is designed to give parents more control over what their teen sees on Instagram. 96% of US parents said they appreciated having this option, whether they choose to opt their teen in or not.

Listening and Responding to Parents

We took parent feedback into account as we developed these changes, and we’re giving parents ways to continue providing us with feedback so we can make improvements. We invited thousands of parents around the world to rate real Instagram content and tell us if they thought it was appropriate for teens. We received over 3 million content ratings from parents and incorporated this feedback when refining our age-appropriate guidelines.

We’re encouraged to see that this feedback, and the changes we made in response to it, made parents more comfortable with content recommended to teens. For example, in September, we asked parents in the US and UK to review Instagram content that had been recommended to teens. Fewer than 2% of the posts were considered inappropriate for teens by most parents.

So parents can continue to give us feedback, we’ll run regular surveys on Instagram inviting parents to review a series of posts, and confirm whether they think they’re appropriate for teens. These surveys will help us understand if parents still agree with where we’ve drawn the line, and if we need to further adjust our guidelines.

We’re also testing a new way for parents using supervision tools to flag any post they see on Instagram that they think should be hidden from teens and tell us why. If these posts aren’t already hidden from teens, we’ll send them to our teams for prioritized review, and we’ll let the parent know the outcome.

When to Expect These Changes

These are significant updates, and we want to take the time to get it right. The updated content settings will start rolling out gradually to Teen Accounts in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada today and will be fully rolled out by the end of the year. Looking ahead, we plan to roll out these changes globally, apply more of the new protections to teens who claim to be adults, and on Facebook, add additional age-appropriate content protections for teens.

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Express yourself with Instagram Notes

With Instagram Notes, you can quickly share short but powerful messages right in your DMs. Whether you want to give a sneak peek into your day, promote your small business, or chat with friends, Notes are perfect for spicing up your content and keeping your audience engaged.

The Instagram Notes feature lets you connect with your followers in a fun and laid-back way. You can shoot short messages straight to your mutual followers or Close Friends list, making it easy to share quick updates, ask questions, or spark connections with your friends with no pressure. Unlike Stories that are all about the visuals, Notes focus on short and sweet conversations. Think of messages like 'Today I’m all about good vibes!' or questions like 'What’s a book you can’t put down?' to get your followers engaging with you.

To create a Note on Instagram:

• Access your profile picture at the top of your DMs, which has an option that says “Leave a note” or a + icon.
• Tap on your profile picture or the + to start creating a note.
• Type your message (up to 60 characters, text and emojis only).
• Select who can see your note: either your mutual followers or your Close Friends list.
• Tap “Share” to post your note!

Your Notes will appear at the top of your friends’ DMs for 24 hours. Your friends can reply to your note, and their responses will show up as direct messages in your inbox. You can also delete your note at any time by tapping your note and selecting the delete option.
Instagram Notes are all about building a community and letting your true self shine.

Spark creativity and get noticed with creative prompts

There are many clever ways to spark engagement with your followers using IG notes. Here are some ideas:

• Ask questions to your friends
  You can ask fun questions, run polls, or share “Ask me anything” prompts to engage with your followers and encourage them to reply.
• Share daily affirmations to inspire and motivate your followers
  Feel free to share more personal reflections for your friends to get a deeper look into your day-to-day thoughts. Share daily affirmations to inspire others, or quotes that resonate with you. Emojis can make your Note pop and express your mood or message quickly.
• Quote your favorite celebrity, movie, music lyrics, or book!
  Share memorable quotes from your favorite flicks or books to kick off conversations among fans. Think of lines like 'To infinity and beyond!' or 'It does not do to dwell on dreams.' Keep it light with trivia or jokes, like 'Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired!' Challenge your followers with riddles for extra fun.
  Using these ideas in your Instagram Notes can create an exciting vibe and strengthen connections with your followers. Let your creativity shine!

Spotify Listening Now on Notes

If you love to share music recommendations to your friends, we’ve now included Spotify in your IG Notes. You can link your Spotify account to Instagram and share what you’re listening to in real time directly to your Notes.

To share music from Spotify:

• Create a Note in your Instagram DMs.
• Tap the music icon (🎵).
• Link your Spotify account if prompted.
• Tap “Share from Spotify” while music is playing.
• Add a caption (optional) and share!

Your Note will automatically update to show the song you’re currently playing on Spotify. If you stop listening, it will update the next time you play a song within 30 minutes. There are also special moments where listening to certain artists on Spotify will trigger unique effects in Notes.
This is a dynamic, real-time way to share your taste and chat with friends who might love the same song as you!

Tricks for getting the most out of Instagram Notes

Use Notes to start meaningful conversations, share thoughts on trending topics, and invite your followers to share their views. This keeps the community vibe alive and encourages thoughtful chats.
Remember, keep it short & sweet. You have only 60 characters, so make every word (and emoji) count. Notes disappear after 24 hours, so make sure to use them for timely updates, reminders, or daily-check ins with your friends.

Encourage replies and stay authentic with your Notes. You can end your Note with a question or call-to-action to invite friends to DM you. Share your real thoughts, feelings, or moments – authenticity helps build stronger connections!
Foster conversations, toss in questions and polls, and create fun challenges to leave a lasting impression on your friends. Stay true to yourself, keep it open, and watch your community thrive!

For further support on using the Instagram Notes feature, visit the Help Center.

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Takeaways

• We’ve placed hundreds of millions of teens in Teen Accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, and now we’re expanding them to teens around the world on Facebook and Messenger.
• We’re launching the School Partnership Program to help educators report safety concerns, like bullying, directly to us for quicker review and removal.
• We’re also expanding access to our online safety curriculum to teach middle schoolers how to stay safe online, including how to recognize and avoid scams and other types of exploitation.

A year ago, we introduced Teen Accounts — a significant step to help keep teens safe across our apps. As of today, we’ve placed hundreds of millions of teens in Teen Accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. Teen Accounts are already rolled out globally on Instagram and are further expanding to teens everywhere around the world on Facebook and Messenger today. Teen Account protections were designed to address parents’ top concerns with automatic protections to limit who their teens are talking to online and the content they’re seeing, and ensure their time is well spent. While there’s always more work to be done, we’re encouraged to see that Teen Accounts are bringing parents more peace of mind when it comes to their teens’ online experiences.

“We want parents to feel good about their teens using social media. We know teens use apps like Instagram to connect with friends and explore their interests, and they should be able to do so without worrying about unsafe or inappropriate experiences. Teen Accounts are designed to give parents peace of mind. Since launching on Instagram a year ago, we’ve added limits on teens going Live, more restrictions in DMs, and also improved our ability to make sure people are in age-appropriate experiences. Supporting parents and helping teens use our apps safely is a responsibility we take seriously.” – Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram

More Support for Schools and Teachers, in Addition to Parents

While we’re focused on providing young people with built-in protections and giving parents ways to directly manage their teens’ experiences, we recognize there are many who play a role in keeping teens safe — including teachers and schools. Today, we’re launching the School Partnership Program for all US middle and high schools. Developed with the International Society for Technology in Education and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, this program helps educators report safety concerns, like bullying, directly to us for quicker review. This means schools can report Instagram content or accounts that may violate our Community Standards for prioritized review, which we aim to complete within 48 hours.

We piloted this program over the past year and opened up a waitlist for schools to join in April. The program has helped us quickly respond to educators’ online safety concerns, and we’ve heard positive feedback from participating schools. Now, all middle and high schools in the US can sign up for the School Partnership Program by visiting about.instagram.com/community/educators or directly in their Instagram settings by selecting Account Type and Tools or Business Tools and Controls. Full step by step instructions can be found here.

Schools that sign up to become school partners on Instagram receive prioritized reporting, educational resources to help their school community navigate social media, and a banner on their Instagram profile so parents and students know they’re an official Instagram partner.

“Partnering with Instagram has been incredibly helpful in keeping our students and community safer online. I had an inside track and faster responses to reports of inappropriate behaviors online. As a principal of four years, responsible for over 700 students, I cannot stress enough the importance of new ways to keep kids safe in this changing world. I’m excited that more schools will get the chance to do this. I hope other technology platforms can also trust schools more and take down harmful posts.” – Justin Ponzio, Principal, Buchser Middle School

Reaching a Million Middle Schoolers With Online Safety Curriculum

Earlier this year, we announced that we partnered with Childhelp to develop a first-of-its-kind online safety curriculum specifically for middle schoolers. Educators and parents who have accessed the curriculum so far say they expect to teach it to over 550,000 US middle schoolers in the coming year, and our goal is to reach one million students.

The curriculum, created in collaboration with leading child safety experts, teaches middle schoolers how to stay safe online, including how to spot potential signs of online exploitation, and what to do if they or someone they know needs help. Fully funded by Meta, the curriculum is free and available to all, and includes everything parents and educators need — from detailed facilitator training to fully scripted lessons, with interactive activities and videos.

We also know that sometimes middle schoolers prefer to discuss these topics with people closer in age. That’s why we partnered with the team at LifeSmarts, who have adapted the curriculum to empower high school students to teach it to their younger peers. This new peer-led version of the curriculum is available now.

As part of our commitment to supporting parents and protecting teens, we’re always working on new ways to keep teens safe on our apps, and we’ll share more updates soon.

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Instagram on iPad

Today, we’re excited to announce we’re bringing Instagram to iPad. People have asked for this for a while, and we’ve taken the time to design an experience that optimizes your favorite parts of Instagram for a bigger screen.

Sit back, relax, and watch Reels

Instagram has always been the place where people connect over creativity, and Reels has become a primary way people discover and share entertaining content. With Instagram for iPad, we’ve redesigned the experience to reflect how people use bigger screens today – for lean back entertainment. Now, when you open the app, you’ll drop into Reels, so you can get the entertaining content you love on a bigger screen. You’ll also see Stories at the top, so you can easily connect with the people that matter to you, and messaging is one tap away.

Catch up with the new Following tab

We’ve heard your requests for easier ways to make sure you’re not missing updates from your favorite accounts, so we’re introducing a new “Following” tab on iPad, which gives you multiple ways to see the latest and greatest from the accounts you follow:

• All: Recommended posts and reels from accounts you follow
• Friends: Recommended post and reels from accounts you follow, that follow you back
• Latest: Chronological posts and reels from accounts you follow, with the most recent posts appearing first.

You can choose the order of these feeds to prioritize what you want to see first.

Designed for the big screen

When designing Instagram for iPad, we wanted to take advantage of the bigger screen to give people more features with fewer taps, while keeping it simple. We’ve made it easier to catch up on your messages and notifications with layouts that display both tabs. When you watch reels, you can expand the comments while the reel stays at full size, making it easy to catch up on the best reactions without missing a moment. It’s the Instagram you love, now with more space to play.

Instagram for iPad is now rolling out globally on iPad models that support iPadOS 15.1 and later. It is free for download on the App Store. The new tablet design will be coming soon to Android.

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Takeaways

With the new Instagram schools experience, students can connect with friends and the classmates they know from college or university in a dedicated, private space that’s only for students.
Students can add their school to their profile as a banner, and connect with other confirmed students via a school directory.

Today, we’re launching a new student-only space to help college students connect with fellow classmates on Instagram. College or university students in the U.S. can now add their school to their profile as a banner, and connect with other confirmed students via the school directory.

Add your school

Students will see the ability to “Add school” on their profile. Once someone is confirmed to be a current student by completing a verification process, including providing information to student verification platform UNiDAYS, they will be able to display their school as a banner on their profile. Students can choose who can see their banner.

Once confirmed, students will be able to browse a directory of other confirmed students, helping students connect with classmates at a time in their lives where connecting with their new school-based community can be beneficial.

Connect with fellow classmates

Instagram is a go-to space to connect with friends. Now the directory makes it easier to find fellow classmates and make connections. Using the directory, confirmed students can browse other confirmed students within the entire school or filter by year. We are partnering with student verification platform UNiDAYS to verify a student is an active student at their indicated school.

At UNiDAYS, we're committed to creating safer, more rewarding digital experiences for the next generation. We do this by making verification and digital identity a foundation, not a barrier for young people. We're proud to partner with Instagram to champion digital trust and online safety. This new feature, underpinned by our world-leading verification technology, enables students to build more authentic, meaningful, and secure connections online.

We want Instagram to be a place where people can connect safely with their friends. With the new schools experience on Instagram, college students can better connect with fellow classmates, explore their interests, and build community at school.

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