Instagram just borrowed from the film industry’s playbook. Starting today, what teenagers see on the platform will be guided by PG-13 movie rating standards.
What’s happening: Meta announced that Instagram Teen Accounts will be guided by PG-13 movie ratings by default, meaning 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.
Why this matters to all parents: This is Instagram’s most significant update to teen safety since Teen Accounts launched last year. Whether you think it’s enough or just window dressing, it changes what your teenager can see on one of the world’s most popular social media platforms.
The bigger picture: Instagram said it was borrowing the thinking behind the PG-13 movie rating after facing years of criticism that it doesn’t do enough to protect teens’ wellbeing, including testimony from parents who said Instagram contributed to their children’s deaths or exploitation.
Here’s what’s actually changing, what gets filtered, and what parents can control.
What Parents Need to Know
Instagram will not promote and may even hide posts featuring strong language, or those which could encourage “harmful behaviours” such as content featuring risky stunts or marijuana paraphernalia. Teens also won’t be able to follow accounts that regularly share age-inappropriate content.
What gets filtered:
- Posts with strong language
- Sexually suggestive poses or material
- Violent imagery
- Risky stunts
- Marijuana-related content
- Links to pornographic websites
- Content related to alcohol
Instagram is also blocking search terms like “alcohol” or “gore,” and making sure teens don’t find content under these categories by misspelling these terms.
How it works: If an Instagram account regularly shares content that is age-inappropriate, Instagram will block all teen accounts from being able to see or chat with that account. If teens already follow such accounts, they will no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send or receive direct messages from them or see that account’s comments under other posts.
This could apply even to celebrities. During a TODAY show interview, when asked about a video of NBA star LeBron James promoting Hennessy liquor, Instagram’s Head Adam Mosseri confirmed teens would not see it “unless you actually asked your parent for permission to what’s called More Content”.
What experts are saying: The film industry voluntarily released the modern film rating system in the 1960s when it, too, was facing the threat of government regulation. Instagram appears to be following a similar path.
Different perspectives: In a Meta-commissioned survey by Ipsos, 95% of US parents said they think these updated settings will be helpful, and 90% said they’ll make it easier to understand the kind of content their teen is likely to see on Instagram.
But critics remain sceptical. Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer previously declared after incidents with Meta AI, “Meta AI is a danger to teens and it should be taken down immediately,” fuelling doubts about whether the new PG-13 system will be sufficient.
What Parents Can Control
The default setting: Parents don’t have to do anything – by default, every teen that has a teen account will be in the 13-plus rating, which means that the content they see on Instagram will largely align with a PG-13 movie.
The stricter option: Meta is introducing a new, stricter setting called ‘Limited Content,’ which will filter even more content from the Teen Account experience and will also remove teens’ ability to see, leave, or receive comments under posts. Starting next year, this setting will also further restrict the AI conversations teens can have.
Parent feedback: The company is testing a new way for parents to flag content that shouldn’t be recommended to teens using supervision tools, with flagged posts sent to a review team.
The Limitations Parents Should Know
Age verification remains a problem: Instagram does not verify self-reported ages at sign-up in the United States, and Meta is a member of two trade associations that have sued to block state laws that would require age verification. In June, the trade groups won injunctions against state-mandated age checks in Florida and Georgia.
Meta says it uses artificial intelligence to estimate the ages of users, regardless of the birthdate they sign up with, in an effort to identify teens who might be intentionally skirting the protections.
No system is perfect: “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,” Meta said.
“We recognise no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time”.
What’s really changing? Meta’s director of public policy, Liz Arcamona, said “by and large, many of our policies were already generally in line with or actually went further than a PG-13 standard” – suggesting this may be more about clearer communication than dramatic policy changes.
When This Takes Effect
Rollout timeline:
- Instagram is rolling out these changes in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada starting today, and globally next year
- The PG-13 update will reach all users under 18 by the end of 2025
- The company said the changes will also come to Facebook’s teen accounts in the future
For your family: If your teenager has Instagram, their account will automatically switch to the new 13+ content setting. They cannot opt out without your permission. You can choose to apply even stricter controls through the “Limited Content” setting.
Will this be helpful do you think or do they need to go further? Let us know below.
Sources: FB, NBC, The Guardian
