Instagram will now be applying PG-13 movie guidelines to its teenage users’ accounts by default, Meta announced on Tuesday.
“This means that teens will see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie. Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ setting, and they won’t be able to opt out without a parent’s permission,” the social media company explained. “And because we know that all families are different, we’re also introducing a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen.”
The move comes a year after the tech company first applied automatic privacy restrictions to its hundreds of millions of teenage users across the globe.
“Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram — but we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible. We recognize no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time,” Meta added on Tuesday. “We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default, while also giving them more ways to shape their teen’s experience.”
Specifically, the update will make it so teenagers cannot follow age-inappropriate accounts, search for terms such as “suicide, self-harm and eating disorders,” open questionable links via DM or receive improper responses from AI.
Additionally, parents who are seeking stricter rule enforcement can add an even more stringent “Limited Content” setting. These updates will begin rolling out on Tuesday and will be global by the end of the year.
