New and existing users under the age of 18 will be automatically enrolled in what Instagram is calling "Teen Accounts," the company said. The move comes 16 months after U.S. Surge

Nearly three years after the explosive “Facebook Papers” first drew mass attention to the risks of Instagram for young users, the platform is taking its most dramatic step yet to create a safer experience for teens.

Starting today, Instagram will begin putting new and existing users under the age of 18 into “Teen Accounts” — a move that will affect how tens of millions of teens interact with the platform. The new account type automatically applies a set of protections to young users, and only users 16 years of age and older can loosen some of these settings.