United Kingdom, April 9 -- Meta is expanding teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger.

The social media giant is hoping the new addition - which its other social media platform Instagram uses and offers built-in protections that limit who can contact youths and the content they see - will give parents "a peace of mind" on their child's experience on its apps.

It automatically places teens into Teen Accounts, and under 16s will need a parent's permission to change settings to be less strict.

From April 8, Meta - which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 - made the accounts available in the USA, UK, Australia and Canada.

Other countries will be able to get access to Teen Accounts in the future.

In a blog post on the company's website...