Aotearoa New Zealand’s First Instagram Safety Camp Delivers A One-Of-A-Kind Adventure In Parenting And Online Safety

Today, more than 70 parents attended the Aotearoa New Zealand Instagram Safety Camp, an invitation-only morning of conversation and connection where s’mores were swapped for screen time strategies and a better understanding of the tools and resources available to give parents peace of mind and help ensure teens have age-appropriate experiences online.

“With kids heading back to school, it’s natural for parents to be thinking about how their children are using social media and navigating the online world,” said Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of safety, Meta.

Hosted by Kiwi television and radio personality and comedian Ben Boyce, Instagram Safety Camp brought parents, safety experts and young voices together around a “digital campfire” to talk about what it really takes to support teens online—without losing the fun, connection and creativity that make Instagram such an important part of teen life.

“Instagram Safety Camp is about helping families feel more confident,” Davis said. “We want parents and caregivers to have practical tools, real answers and the reassurance that teens can have online spaces that are age-appropriate, protective, and guided by the adults in their lives.”

A campground full of practical tools—built for the teen years

At the heart of the morning was a closer look at Instagram Teen Accounts. Meta shared how Teen Accounts were developed with parents and teens in mind, and are designed to address some of parents’ biggest concerns: who their teens are talking to online, the content they’re seeing, and whether their time is being well spent.

Below are the key features of Teen Accounts. Protections are turned on automatically, and parents decide if teens under 16 can change any of these settings to be less strict:

Private accounts: Default private accounts, means teens need to accept new followers and people who don’t follow them can’t see their content or interact with them.

Messaging restrictions: Teens will be placed in the strictest messaging settings, so they can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.

Sensitive content restrictions: Teens will automatically be placed into the most restrictive setting of our sensitive content control, which limits the type of sensitive content (such as content that shows people fighting or promotes cosmetic procedures) teens see in places like Explore and Reels.

Limited interactions: Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow. We’ll also automatically turn on the most restrictive version of Hidden Words, filtering offensive words and phrases from teens’ comments and DM requests.

Time limit reminders: Teens get notifications telling them to leave the app after 60 minutes each day.

Sleep mode enabled: Sleep mode will be turned on between 10 PM and 7 AM, which will mute notifications overnight and send auto-replies to DMs.

Nudity protection in Messages: Teen Accounts are automatically set to blur images in messages detected as containing nudity.

Live broadcast restrictions: The ability to start a live broadcast is off by default for Teen Accounts.

Real talk from experts, parents and young people

Instagram Safety Camp also featured conversations on supporting teens to thrive online, with safety and youth experts sharing practical tips on building trust, setting boundaries and keeping communication open—especially when the online world changes faster than the group chat.

Actor Jayden Daniels moderated a high energy chat with safety experts Brent Carey from Netsafe, and Lola Fisher and Nate Wilbourne from Gen-Z Aotearoa. The discussion explored why parent involvement matters, common points of misunderstanding, and how families can navigate challenges with trust, clear boundaries and open communication. The panel also highlighted how teens use social media for self-expression, identity exploration and connection, and closed with simple wellbeing habits, tips for staying informed without getting overwhelmed, and a rapid-fire round of the digital safety tools the panelists rely on.

Parents also heard from creator and mum Brit Cunningham in a conversation about navigating social media conversations at home and what it looks like to set up Teen Accounts in real family life..

A summer-camp send-off

Guests explored themed “camp stations,” asked questions during campfire conversations with Meta experts, and left with some camp swag —including Instagram conversation cards, designed to help families keep talking long after camp wrap-up.

“Today showed how powerful it can be when parents and caregivers come together to share stories, ask big questions, and learn from one another,” Davis said. “Safety isn’t a one-off feature—it’s something we’re committed to improving every day.”

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