Teens on Instagram will be restricted to viewing PG-13 content by default and will not be able to change settings without parental permission, Meta announced Tuesday.
That means kids using teen accounts will see photos and videos on Instagram similar to what they see in PG-13 movies. In particular, there is no sex, drugs, or dangerous stunts involved.
“This includes hiding or discouraging additional content that may encourage potentially harmful behavior, such as posts with strong language, certain dangerous stunts, or posts showing marijuana paraphernalia,” Mehta said in a blog post Tuesday, calling the update the most significant since introducing teen accounts last year.
The company is also adding more stringent settings that parents can set for their children.
The change comes as the social media giant faces relentless criticism for: harm a child. Mehta seeks to add safeguards for teens, but has already committed to them Inappropriate content will not be displayed For teens, including posts about self-harm, eating disorders, and suicide.
However, this doesn’t always work. a recent reportsFor example, researchers found that accounts created by teens encouraged age-inappropriate sexual content, including “graphic sexual depictions, the use of cartoons describing humiliating sexual acts, and brief displays of nudity.”
Additionally, Instagram promotes “a variety of self-harm, self-harm, and body image content” on teen accounts, which the report says is “substantially likely to have a negative impact on young people, including teens experiencing poor mental health, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”
Meta claims the new restrictions are a further enhancement of existing safety measures. Teens will no longer be able to follow accounts that regularly share “age-inappropriate content” or whose name or profile contains content that is not appropriate for teens, such as a link to an OnlyFans account. If teens are already following these accounts, they won’t be able to view or interact with their content, send messages, or see their own comments under other people’s posts, the company said. These accounts also cannot follow teens, send private messages, or comment on their posts.
Meta says it already blocks certain search terms related to sensitive topics like suicide and eating disorders, but the latest update expands this to a broader range of terms, such as “alcohol” and “bloody,” even if they’re misspelled.
Mehta said the PG-13 update will also include artificial intelligence chats and experiences aimed at teens, “which means the AI shouldn’t give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”
For parents who want even stricter settings for their kids, Meta is also rolling out “restricted content” restrictions that block more content and remove the ability for teens to view, leave, or receive comments below posts.
