Meta introduces new content rules for teen Instagram users

US social media company, Meta, announced sweeping changes to teen accounts on Instagram designed to align content with PG-13 movie ratings by default.

Teens younger than 18 will be automatically placed into updated 13+ content settings and cannot opt out without parental permission, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

PG-13 is a film content rating, indicating that some content in the film may not be suitable for children under the age of 13.

"This means that teens will see content on Instagram that's similar to what they'd see in a PG-13 movie," Meta said in a statement.

Parents seeking stricter controls can activate an additional restrictive setting for greater oversight.

Expanded content filtering

The updated policies extend beyond the company’s existing restrictions on sexually suggestive content and graphic imagery. Instagram will now hide or decline to recommend posts containing “strong language, certain risky stunts,” and content encouraging “potentially harmful behaviors.”

Meta acknowledged potential workarounds. "We'll use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections—even if they claim to be adults," it said.

Multi-layered restrictions

The company will prevent teens from following accounts regularly sharing age-inappropriate material and block search results for mature terms, including "alcohol" and "gore," even when misspelled. Teens will not be able to open links to restricted content sent through direct messages.

Additionally, Instagram updated its artificial intelligence experiences to follow PG-13 guidelines, ensuring AI does not provide age-inappropriate responses.

Meta said the gradual rollout began Tuesday across the US, UK, Australia and Canada, with complete implementation expected by the end of the year.

The company plans global expansion and similar protections on its other platform, Facebook.