Instagram says will limit content for teens—from updated policy to roll-out and criticisms, what does it mean for users?

Social media platform Instagram on October 14 announced that its Teen Accounts will be guided by PG-13 rules by default. All accounts of individuals below 18 years of age will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ setting, and they won’t be able to opt out without a parent’s permission, the company said.

Instagram's Teen Accounts was introduced in 2024. The company said this update is its “most significant” yet and “builds on the automatic protections already provided” for children on the platform.

“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,” the company said.

What are Teen Accounts?

Teen Accounts is Instagram's solution to protect children from inappropriate content. Its policies include hiding or not recommending sexually suggestive content, graphic or disturbing images, and adult content like tobacco or alcohol sales from teens.

How are the ‘PG-13 rules’ different?

According to a blog post by Meta, parent of Instagram and Facebook, this means that teens will see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie.

The updated policies go further to include hiding or not recommending posts with strong language, certain risky stunts, and additional content that could encourage potentially harmful behaviours, such as posts showing marijuana paraphernalia.

• Teenagers will no longer be able to follow accounts that Instagram finds to be regularly sharing age-inappropriate content, or if their name or bio suggests the account is inappropriate for teens.
• If teens already follow these accounts, they’ll no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send them DMs, or see their comments under anyone’s posts.
• “We won’t recommend these accounts to teens, and we’ll make it harder for teens to find these accounts in Search. These protections work both ways: these accounts won’t be able to follow teens, send them DMs, or comment on their posts,” it said.

• According to Meta, the app has already block search terms related to certain sensitive topics, like suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. It will now also block teens’ ability to see content results for a wider range of mature search terms, such as ‘alcohol’ or ‘gore’, and is working to make sure these terms will still be blocked if they’re misspelled.
• In terms of content, teens will be blocked from reels, feed posts and explore suggestions that go against the updated guidelines — even when shared by someone they follow. If someone sends a teen a link to such content in DMs, they won’t be able to open it.
• Meta has also updated AI experiences for teens on Instagram to be guided by PG-13 ratings.
• There is a new, stricter setting called ‘Limited Content,’ which will filter even more content from the Teen Account experience. It 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.
• Limited Content setting is designed to give parents more control over what their teen sees on Instagram, as per the statement.

• Meta said they are also testing a new way for parents using supervision tools to flag any post they see on Instagram that they think should be hidden from teens and tell us why.

How will the PG-13 settings be applied?

Notably, the age restriction will be automatic for all Teen Accounts, and cannot be revoked without parent permission.

Instagram however sought to temper expectations, “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 further said they “want to take the time to get it right” and the updates will be rolled out gradually to Teen Accounts in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States by 2025-end.

“We plan to roll out these changes globally, apply more of the new protections to teens who claim to be adults, and on Facebook, add additional age-appropriate content protections for teens,” it added.

Not all rosy: What are the criticisms?

Josh Golin, executive director of nonprofit Fairplay, told AP he is “very sceptical about how this will be implemented”. He said Meta's move comes amid increased concern from parents, and alleged that the company is forestalling the federal Kids Online Safety Act that would push for accountability rather than “splashy press releases”.

Ailen Arreaza, executive director of ParentsTogether, was also sceptical and told AP, “We have heard promises from Meta before, and each time we have watched millions be poured into PR campaigns, while the actual safety features fall short in testing and implementation. Our children have paid the price for that gap between promise and protection. While any acknowledgment of the need for age-appropriate content filtering is a step in the right direction, we need to see more than announcements — we need transparent, independent testing and real accountability.”

Meta's use of the term PG-13 has also come under scrutiny, with The Motion Picture Association telling AP it was not contacted prior to this announcement. “We welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, but assertions that Instagram's new tool will be guided by PG-13 movie ratings or have any connection to the film industry's rating system are inaccurate,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the association, said in a statement.

Desmond Upton Patton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies social media, AI, empathy and race, had a positive take. “It gives a timely opening for parents and caregivers to talk directly with teens about their digital lives, how they use these tools, and how to shape safer habits that enable positive-use cases. I am especially glad to see changes around AI chatbots that make clear they are not human, they do not love you back, and should be engaged with that understanding. It is a meaningful step toward a more joyful social media experience for teens,” he told AP.