Why is Instagram asking for date of birth? How old do you have to be to use website - and age rule explained

The internet is a vast and sprawling landscape, and while it has brought much good into the world, it can also be dangerous, especially for young users.

According to Ofcom’s 2022 annual report looking at the media use and attitudes of children, nearly all children went online in 2021 (99%) and a majority of children under 13 had their own profile on at least one social media app or site.

The report found that 33% of parents of five to seven year olds said their child had a profile, and 60% of eight to 11s said they had one.

For most social media platforms, users have to be at least 13 years old to sign up.

This is what you need to know - and how to report an account if you think an underage user is running it.

What do the Instagram terms and conditions say?

The Instagram terms and conditions state that all users must be “at least 13 years old”.

This is in line with almost all other social media platforms, including Instagram’s parent company Facebook, although in some countries, the minimum age is higher.

When signing up for an account, users are asked for their birthday - this is called an age screen. Facebook says that “those who are underage are not allowed to sign up, and we restrict people who repeatedly try to enter different birthdays into the age screen”.

While simply asking for a user’s age to allow them to sign up sounds like an obstacle that’s easy to bypass for underage users, the question of verifying a user’s age is “a complex challenge” according to Facebook.

The social media giant says: “Many argue that collecting ID is the answer to this industry problem, but there are significant limitations to this approach: many young people don’t have an ID, ID collection isn’t a fair or equitable solution, nor is it foolproof.”

It goes on to say that access to government ID depends on where you live in the world, as does the information contained in an ID such as a birthday. Additionally, some who do have access to IDs may not get one unless they choose to travel - and others simply can’t afford one.

How do I report an underage user?

One way that Facebook keeps its platforms free from underage users is by having other users report accounts that they think are being run by someone under 13.

If you think that someone is using Instagram under the age of 13, or someone is impersonating your child who is under 13, you can report the account to Instagram.

You can report them via Instagrams help centre, where all you need to do is enter the username of the account and the name of the person you’d like to report.

You also need to enter the date of birth of the person you’re reporting, as well as what your relationship to that person is, whether it’s parent, sibling, friend or something else entirely.

Instagram says: “If you’re reporting a child’s account that was made with a false date of birth, and the child’s age can reasonably be verified as under 13, we’ll delete the account.

“You will not receive confirmation that the account has been deleted, but you should no longer be able to view it on Instagram.

“Bear in mind that complete and detailed reports (e.g. providing the username of the account that you’re reporting) help us take appropriate action.

“If the reported child’s age can’t reasonably be verified as being under 13, then we may not be able to take action on the account.”

What safety controls does Instagram have?

If you have young children who are above the age of 13, but who you’re worried about using Instagram, there are a number of steps you can take to make their account more secure.

You can make an Instagram account private, which means that only followers which you have approved can see the content of the page. By default Instagram accounts are made public.

To make an Instagram account private, go to settings and select privacy, and you’ll be able to toggle between a private and public account.

If your account is set to private, you can also remove followers from your followers list as well by going to your profile, tapping the followers at the top and then tapping “remove” to the right of the follower you’d like to get rid of.

You can also block an account if you want as well, which will mean that they cannot see your account.

You can do this by going to that accounts profile, tapping the three menu dots at the top right and then selecting the block option down the bottom.