Is Pinterest Safe for Kids? What You Need to Know in 2024

Toma Novakovic
Updated on: September 4, 2024 Writer

Pinterest isn’t the safest site for kids to roam unattended, despite being perceived as safer than other popular social networks like Instagram or Facebook. Although Pinterest does attempt to protect minors, the site shares many of the same risks common to all social media platforms, and some dangers can still slip through the cracks.

That said, Pinterest can be made safe for your teen by taking the proper measures — including properly adjusting the privacy and safety settings in your kid’s account.

I definitely recommend using a top-tier parental control app as well to combine with Pinterest’s privacy and safety settings. My top recommendation is Qustodio because it gives you granular control over how much time your child spends on Pinterest.

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What Is Pinterest?

Pinterest is an online platform where users can discover, save, and share ideas through images and short videos, all in one visually appealing space.

Users can search for ideas on virtually any topic — from craft projects and recipes to home decor and party planning — and save their favorite finds by collecting image posts, known as “Pins,” into personalized collections called boards. These boards can be organized by theme, such as “Summer Vacation Ideas” or “Healthy Dinner Recipes,” making it easy to find and refer back to the ideas whenever needed.

Pinterest also has some social features. For example, users can follow accounts that align with their interests, and even comment on or like posts. Additionally, Pinterest offers features like group boards, where multiple users can contribute Pins to a shared board. It also provides personalized recommendations based on the Pins and boards you interact with.

What Are the Risks of Pinterest?

• Exposure to inappropriate content. Although Pinterest has guidelines to keep the platform safe, images and videos that are sexually explicit, violent, or otherwise inappropriate can slip through the cracks. Sometimes, this content can appear in searches or be inadvertently pinned by others.
• Harmful influences. Pinterest has content that could promote harmful behaviors, such as romanticizing depression, suicidal thoughts, drug use, or unhealthy practices like “thinspiration” related to eating disorders. Although Pinterest works hard to remove such content, these harmful messages can persist in hidden or subtle ways.
• Child predators. There have been reports from parents about child predators using Pinterest to create boards filled with images of young children. While Pinterest is diligent in shutting down these communities, some of these predators are skilled at evading automated moderation and staying within the technical boundaries of what’s allowed for some time.
• Misinformation and dangerous “life hacks.” Pinterest has a large amount of user-generated content, which isn’t always accurate or reliable. There are many cases of children injuring themselves trying to replicate recipes or “life hacks” they see on sites like Pinterest.
• Digital safety risks. Most Pins on the site are external links. This means that you can’t always tell exactly where a Pin will take you when you click on it. Your child could accidentally click on a seemingly harmless Pin that leads to a malware download or an inappropriate website.
• Excessive time spent on Pinterest. Pinterest’s endless stream of content can easily lead to excessive time spent on the platform, potentially distracting your child from schoolwork, socializing, or other important activities.
• Cyberbullying and harassment. While Pinterest is less focused on direct social interaction than other platforms, users can still send messages and leave comments on Pins, which opens the door to potential cyberbullying and harassment, similar to other social media apps.

What Age Is Pinterest Appropriate For?

Pinterest is generally appropriate for users at and above 13 years of age. Pinterest’s Terms of Service detail that users have to be at least 13 years old or above the age of consent in their respective countries. Also, minors have to get their parents’ permission before making an account on the site.

The Apple App Store rates Pinterest as suitable for users aged 12+f and warns about “infrequent or mild mature themes”. The Google Play Store gives Pinterest a Parental Guidance Recommended rating, which is usually for apps that have a very large selection of content for users to browse. It means that Pinterest hosts content that might not be appropriate for children, but it also hosts age-appropriate content, depending on how users browse the site.

How to Keep Your Kids Safe on Pinterest

With all that being said, it’s totally possible for your child to enjoy Pinterest safely. Here are some useful tips for protecting your kids while they’re browsing on Pinterest.

1. Install a Good Quality Parental Control App

Top parental control apps like Qustodio help keep your child safe on platforms like Pinterest in various ways:

• Regulating daily time spent on Pinterest. Decide how much time your kid can spend on Pinterest daily. For example, you can let your kid use Pinterest for half an hour during school days and longer on the weekends.
• Creating schedules for Pinterest. Restrict what times of day you kids can access Pinterest. For instance, you can block access to it during school hours and at bedtime. That way, your kid won’t be distracted by Pinterest in school or lose sleep over it.
• Monitor your kid’s Pins on Pinterest. Some parental control apps, like Bark for example, scan the images and descriptions on your child’s Pins and alert you to any content that’s harmful or inappropriate.
• Comprehensive activity reports. Get an overview of how much your child spends time on Pinterest on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. That lets you potentially catch any patterns of either increasing time spent on Pinterest or browsing the site at inappropriate times.
• Block access to Pinterest entirely. Parental control apps like Qustodio let you completely prevent your child from getting on specific apps — this might be necessary if they start spending way too much time on Pinterest or if they’re too young to use it.

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2. Create Your Kid’s Pinterest Account For Them

Pinterest has some built-in protections for minors that you won’t be able to use if your kid provides false information about their birth date (particularly their birth year) when creating an account.

Note that Pinterest requests users to enter their birthdate during account creation to provide some protections for minors, but it doesn’t require any additional verification to confirm the accuracy of the information provided. This is why I think it’s important for you to create an account for or with your child.

3. Set Your Child’s Profile to Private

Setting a profile to private means that only users that the account owner approves can see their Pins, boards, following list, and profile. So I recommend sitting down with your child to go over who can follow them on Pinterest. Also, nobody can mention a private profile, both in comments and in Pin descriptions.

To set your kid’s profile to private:

1. Click the arrow next to the profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Profile visibility tab.
4. Check if the “Private profile” option is active.

The “Search privacy” option prevents your kid’s profile from appearing in search results. The option is switched on by default and can’t be toggled off for accounts belonging to minors (between 13 and 18 year olds) on the site.

4. Adjust Messaging Settings

Pinterest automatically prevents people your child doesn’t follow from messaging them. What’s more, you can control what happens to messages that your child’s friends or people they follow send:

1. Click the arrow next to the profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Social permissions tab.
4. Scroll down to the Messages section.
5. Here, you can set messages to appear in the inbox, Requests section, or prevent your child’s account from receiving messages altogether.

5. Control Who Can Comment on Your Child’s Pins

Pinterest allows you to control what comments your child can read, both on their Pins and while browsing Pinterest in general.

1. Click the arrow next to the profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Social permissions tab.
4. Scroll down to the Comments section.
5. The first toggle lets you allow or forbid others from leaving comments on your kid’s Pins.
6. If comments are allowed, the second toggle lets you block comments that contain certain words from appearing on your child’s Pins.
7. The third toggle prevents your child from seeing comments containing forbidden words on anyone else’s Pins.

6. Set a Parental Passcode for Pinterest’s Privacy Settings

A parental passcode prevents your kid from changing Pinterest’s privacy settings in their account. This code will expire once your child turns 18. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Click the arrow next to the profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Account management tab.
4. Under “Your account”, find the “Parental passcode” option.
5. Click Add code.
6. Enter a 4-digit code, as well as your email address, which you’ll need in case you want to change the passcode.

6. Talk to Your Kid About Online Safety and Privacy

It’s important to discuss online safety openly and directly with your child, so they can better understand why you’re serious about keeping them safe on Pinterest. Here some concepts you could touch upon:

• Reassure your child that they can always come to you if something or someone on Pinterest makes them uncomfortable.
• Remind them that they should only add people they know and trust in real life as friends on Pinterest.
• Explain to your child what a digital footprint is and how the things they post on Pinterest (or anywhere online) can have long-lasting consequences.
• Go through Pinterest’s privacy settings together and explain why each setting is set the way it is.

7. Make a Pinterest Account and Join Your Child

Creating your own Pinterest account and connecting with your child is a good way to supervise their Pinterest activity. This lets you monitor what kind of content they’re posting and looking at on Pinterest, as well as see who interacts with their posts. Also, it’ll be much easier to know what you should be on the lookout for if you familiarize yourself with Pinterest and how it works.

Is Pinterest Safer Than Other Social Sites?

Pinterest is just as safe or as dangerous as any other social media site out there. Although many believe it’s safer because it focuses more on content discovery and less on personal interaction, users can still encounter harmful content, misinformation, and privacy concerns.

That said, you can keep your child safe on Pinterest by teaching them how to use the site responsibly, as well as following the safety tips I detailed in this article.

From a data privacy standpoint, Pinterest isn’t that much different from other popular sites either. It automatically collects users’ personal data, which includes potentially identifiable information, geolocation data behavior and usage analytics data, etc. It also shares or sells that data with third parties for various purposes.

That said, you can manage some of the data that Pinterest shares with advertisers, and here’s how to do it:

1. Click the arrow next to the profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Privacy and data tab.
4. Uncheck all the boxes in the “Ads personalization” section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pinterest okay for a 13-year-old?

Generally speaking, yes. The minimum age requirement for Pinterest users is 13, but they also have to be at or above the age of consent in their country. Furthermore, the Apple App Store and Google Play Store rate Pinterest as “12+” and “Parental guidance recommended”, meaning most kids on the site would require good parental controls and guidance.

Are there predators on Pinterest?

Most social media apps aren’t immune to the threat of predators, and Pinterest is no different.

The best way to protect your child from potential harm is to follow the tips outlined here, such as setting their profile to private, blocking incoming messages from strangers, or filtering comments with inappropriate language.

Is there adult content on Pinterest?

Pinterest doesn’t allow explicit content on the site, as it aims to be appropriate for a user base aged 13+, but some of it still slips through the cracks of Pinterest’s content moderation system. If your child encounters any adult content on Pinterest, they can report the Pin, board, or user.

Does Pinterest have its own parental control settings?

Pinterest doesn’t have parental controls per se, although it does have some built-in protections in place for minors on the site — provided that the minor doesn’t lie about their birthdate year when creating an account on the site. Pinterest asks for every user’s birthdate, but it doesn’t ask for any further verification.

For example, minors’ profiles are automatically excluded from search results, and this setting can’t be switched off until the user turns 18. As a parent, you can fine-tune Pinterest’s settings for a good amount of protection, but I also recommend getting a high-quality parental control app to supplement Pinterest’s safety settings.