Instagram is making a major update to teen accounts that will only allow them to view content similar to what you would see in a PG-13 movie. Under the new system, Instagram will continue to hide content containing nudity, sexual content, or suggestive poses from teens, but now it will also avoid recommending content with strong swear words and risky stunts across its platform.
“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,” Instagram writes in an announcement on Tuesday.
Last year, Instagram began putting all users under 18 into teen accounts, applying its existing restrictions on kids under 16 to a larger swath of young users. Teen accounts are private by default and come with safety features that silence notifications from 10PM to 7AM as well as block DMs from strangers.
But now, teen accounts are becoming even more restrictive. Instagram’s PG-13-inspired system will block entire accounts that repeatedly post 18+ content, as well as age-gate profiles with a username, bio, or links that may be inappropriate for teens, such as pointing users toward an adult website like OnlyFans or an online liquor store. It will also block these accounts for logged-out users.
Teens who already follow adult accounts will no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send them DMs, or see their comments on other posts. Instagram will notify creators if the platform flags them as 18+ and will give them ways to remedy the block, such as deleting a post that’s not considered teen-friendly.
Additionally, Instagram will prevent teens from seeing search results for more kinds of terms, like “alcohol” or “gore.” The goal of the change is to make it easier for parents to understand what their kids can and can’t see on Instagram, according to Meta. “By and large, many of our policies were already generally in line with or actually went further than a PG-13 standard,” Liz Arcamona, Meta’s director of public policy, said during a press briefing. “And where they go further today, they will continue to do so going forward.”
Instagram is also rolling out a stricter “Limited Content” option that parents can turn on to filter out even more posts that walk the line of PG-13 and adult. With this setting enabled, teens can’t see, leave, or receive comments on posts. It will also restrict the types of conversations teens under this setting can have with AI starting next year. Conversely, parents can enable the “More Content” option to allow their teen to see a slightly larger range of content outside the PG-13 guidelines, while Instagram’s baseline account restrictions for teens remain.
Instagram will offer parents the ability to provide feedback about posts on the platform by conducting regular surveys. It’s rolling out the update to teen accounts starting now in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, with plans to complete the launch by the end of the year, ahead of a global rollout. Meta plans to add additional “age-appropriate content protections” for teens on Facebook, too.
