Instagram will now apply PG-13 movie guidelines to its teen users’ accounts by default, Meta announced Tuesday.
“This means that teens will see content on Instagram similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie. Teens under 18 will automatically be placed in an updated 13+ setting, and they will not be able to unsubscribe without a parent’s permission,” the social media company explained. “And because we know that all families are different, we are also introducing a new, stricter framework for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teenager.”
The move comes a year after the tech company first applied automatic privacy restrictions to its hundreds of millions of teenage users around the world.
“Just like you might see suggestive content or hear strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like this on Instagram – but we’re going to continue to do everything we can to keep these instances as rare as possible. We recognize that no system is perfect and we’re committed to improving over time,” Meta added Tuesday. “We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default, while giving them more ways to shape their teen’s experience.”
Specifically, the update will prevent teens from following age-inappropriate accounts, searching for terms like “suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders,” opening questionable links via DM, or receiving inappropriate responses from the AI.
Additionally, parents who want stricter enforcement of the rules can add an even stricter “Limited Content” setting. These updates will begin rolling out on Tuesday and will be global by the end of the year.
