A Parent’s Guide to Social Media Safety

The most effective protection isn’t a single setting, it’s a mix of three things: a family media plan with clear rules, privacy settings locked down on every account, and a child who knows they can tell you about anything that goes wrong without being punished for it. Start with the accounts your child already uses, turn on private profiles and two-factor authentication, and agree on what to do if a stranger, a bully, or a threat shows up.

Almost every teenager is on social media. The U.S. Surgeon General reports that up to 95% of young people aged 13 to 17 use a social media platform and nearly two thirds use one every day. Many parents feel behind. This guide gives you a practical plan, based on public health and consumer protection sources, with no technical background needed.

A Real Example: An App “Built for Teens” That Deceived Them

In July 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and the Los Angeles District Attorney announced an order against NGL Labs, the maker of an anonymous messaging app marketed as a “safe space for teens.” According to the FTC, starting in 2022 the app began automatically sending users fake computer-generated messages that appeared to come from real people, and claimed to use “world class AI content moderation” that the agencies allege was false. It also charged for a subscription, NGL Pro, at as much as $9.99 a week, and paying users did not get the sender’s name, only vague hints. Executives allegedly told employees to “reach out to high school kids directly.”

The order bars NGL and its founders from offering the app to anyone under 18, and requires $5 million in payments, including $4.5 million in consumer redress. FTC, “FTC Order Will Ban NGL Labs and its Founders from Offering Anonymous Messaging Apps to Kids Under 18…” (July 2024).

The lesson: an app’s claim to be safe, or teen-friendly, is marketing. You have to check the settings, the charges, and who can contact your child.

Step 1: Make a Family Media Plan

The Surgeon General’s advisory on social media and youth mental health recommends that parents:

• Create a family media plan to set healthy technology boundaries at home.
• Create tech-free zones and encourage in-person friendships.
• Model responsible social media behavior.
• Teach children about technology and empower them to be responsible online, at the appropriate age.
• Report cyberbullying and online abuse and exploitation.
• Work with other parents to establish shared norms.

It also warns that, in its words, “we cannot conclude social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents,” and cites findings that teens spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media and that those spending more than 3 hours a day face double the risk of mental health problems. Source: U.S. Surgeon General, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health” (May 2024).

The Surgeon General’s 2026 advisory on screen use adds a framework of five “Ds”: Discuss expectations, Do model healthy habits, Delay screen time as long as possible and set age-appropriate limits, Divert to alternatives when children are bored, and Disconnect with screen-free times, such as meals, and keeping screens out of the bedroom and away from bedtime. Source: U.S. Surgeon General, “Live Real Life” (May 2026). For practical limits, see our guide to setting realistic screen-time limits.

Put your plan in writing and sign it together: which apps are allowed, when devices are put away, who they can talk to, and what happens if rules are broken.

Step 2: Know the Age Rules

The FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) covers websites and apps directed to children under 13, and general-audience sites that knowingly collect personal information from kids that age. They must notify parents and get approval before collecting a child’s personal information, and you can review it or withdraw consent at any time. Source: FTC, “Protecting Your Child’s Privacy Online”.

Individual platforms set their own minimum ages in their terms of service, often 13. We haven’t verified current minimum ages, so check each platform’s rules rather than relying on this page. Entering a false birthdate when setting up an account can remove the protections designed for younger users.

Step 3: Lock Down the Accounts

Sit with your child and go through each account together:

1. Make profiles private so only approved friends can see posts. See our guide to securing social media accounts.
2. Set strong, unique passwords with a password manager and turn on two-factor authentication. Make sure the recovery email and phone number are ones you can access.
3. Limit who can message or tag them, and turn off location sharing in posts and in the phone’s settings. See how to turn off hidden tracking.
4. Review friends and followers together. Remove people your child doesn’t know in real life.
5. Check app permissions for camera, microphone, contacts, and location.

Platform settings change often, so use each app’s current help pages.

Step 4: Teach the Habits That Matter

These habits help at any age:

• Think before you share. Posts, photos, and comments can be copied or resurface later, even if deleted. A good test: would you be comfortable with a teacher, coach, or future employer seeing it?
• Strangers online are still strangers. People can pretend to be someone else, as the NGL case and the fake accounts in sextortion schemes show. Your child shouldn’t share their address, school, or schedule with someone they know only online.
• Spot the red flags. A new “friend” who moves quickly to private chat, asks for photos, offers gifts or money, or demands secrecy is a warning sign. See our guide to scam warning signs.
• Don’t trust everything you see. Fake images, videos, and voices are easier to make. See our guide to AI-generated fakes.
• Be kind. What they post about others affects real people. See talking to your kids about cyberbullying.

Monitoring Without Spying

Whether to monitor your child’s accounts is a family decision. Approaches that tend to work better when kids know about them: agreeing on rules in advance, checking settings together, and using the parental controls built into the phone and apps. Covert monitoring tools are a different thing. The FTC has taken action against stalkerware makers whose apps collected data without the device owner’s knowledge and stored it insecurely, so we don’t recommend secret monitoring. See our post on spyware.

When Something Goes Wrong

Your child needs to know that coming to you won’t cost them their phone. Kids hide problems they expect to be punished for.

• A bully or harassment: Save screenshots, block, report on the platform, and talk to the school if classmates are involved. See our cyberbullying guide.
• A threat or demand for money or images: Don’t pay, save the evidence, and report. See what to do if someone is blackmailing you online. If a child’s explicit image has been shared, the FTC’s October 2026 guidance points parents to local police, NCMEC’s CyberTipline (1-800-843-5678), and the FBI (1-800-CALL-FBI).
• A scam or hacked account: See what to do if you fall for an online scam.
• Content that upsets them: Listen first, and use the platform’s report tools.

People Also Ask

Sources: Federal Trade Commission, “FTC Order Will Ban NGL Labs and its Founders from Offering Anonymous Messaging Apps to Kids Under 18 and Halt Deceptive Claims Around AI Content Moderation” (July 2024); U.S. Surgeon General, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health” (May 2024); U.S. Surgeon General, “Live Real Life: Advisory and Toolkit on the Harms of Screen Use” (May 2026); Federal Trade Commission, “Protecting Your Child’s Privacy Online”; Federal Trade Commission, “Did someone share an explicit image of your child online? Take these steps” (October 2026)