Kim Kardashian's Daughter North West Joins Instagram After Dad Kanye's Past Criticism of Social Media Use

On Friday, the 12-year-old -- who is the eldest child of Kim and her ex-husband Kanye West -- launched her own Instagram account under the username "@northwest," and shared her first post, which featured a blurry photo of herself posing in a Balenciaga graphic t-shirt, black mini skirt, and stylish black boots.

"first post," North captioned the shot.

According to The Kardashians star's bio, she doesn't manage her new social media profile. "account managed by parents," North's bio reads.

North also shared posts to her Instagram Stories, including photos and videos of her and her two friends rocking multicolored wigs.

While North has posted social media content for years via her and her mom's joint TikTok account, which they created in 2021, her father, Kanye, has publicly expressed his disapproval of North and his other kids -- shares Saint, 10, Chicago, 7, and Psalm, 6, -- being featured online.

Back in 2022, Kanye shared a post on Instagram, in which he called out Kim after a then-eight-year-old North appeared in a TikTok video with her cousin, Penelope Disick, with the two girls singing Machine Gun Kelly's song, "Emo Girl."

"Hey everybody, I just got off the phone with Kim, and I told her to stop antagonizing me with this TikTok thing," he said at the time, per E! News.

"I am her father," he added. "I know y’all don’t respect fathers and the idea of family, and the media tries to promote something. I said, 'I'm not allowing my daughter to be used by TikTok, to be used by Disney.’ I have a say so."

At the time, Kim later addressed Kanye's comments on her Instagram Stories, writing, "Kanye's constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create. As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision - because it brings her happiness."

Meanwhile, North joining Instagram comes after the 12-year-old and Kim recently received backlash over North's now-infamous costume, in which she rocked fake tattoos and a nose piercing.

In a series of photos and videos shared on their joint TikTok, @kimandnorth, in October, North wore a bold look while hanging out with friends. She rocked waist-length blue braids, temporary face tattoos, a nose ring, colored contacts, and grillz, with North matching her peers, who wore similar ensembles in different colors.

After both North and her mom were criticized online for the look, the Kim and North's TikTok account hit back. Daily Mail Australia shared a TikTok post that featured photos of North's look alongside the headline, "North West, 12, worries fans with new look," to which the Kim and North's TikTok took to the comments section, writing, "This is such a non-issue😭."

Kim later revealed it was North herself who wrote the clapback.

"North, if she ever posts a TikTok, it's on my phone, so she has to ask my approval, and then I post it, whatever," Kim explained while appearing on Complex's GOAT Talk YouTube series. "The comments, all that's on my phone."

"She takes my phone, and she writes back to a comment, and she goes, 'This is such a non-issue.' Then online, it was like, 'Kim defends North to the end on this look,'" Kim told Nash, adding, "That's a good clapback."

At the time, North's transformation was met with criticism online, particularly due to her age, with Kim noting that people called it "horrible" and "disturbing."

"So her and her girlfriends, they love doing costumes, they love doing looks, and so, it's Halloween season, so they put on fake tattoos on their face, fake piercings, they all had their colored hair," she continued. "They looked like an opium Powerpuff Girls … [that’s] what they were going for."

"She was like, 'I don't get it. It's a Halloween costume. It’s all fake,'" Kim recalled.