Everything to know about Instagram's new policy limiting teen access to content beyond PG-13 guidelines

Instagram is tightening its safeguards for members with a change aimed squarely at teenagers. Unveiled on October 14, the service will automatically funnel every account belonging to someone under 18 into a "13+" feed, an analogue of the PG‑13 rating used in movies.

If a teen wants to venture beyond that curated stream, parental approval will be required, making this the far‑reaching safety tweak Instagram has rolled out for its user base so far.

Meta updates Instagram with PG-13-style safeguards to protect teen users

Meta has also described new changes to Instagram to make it a safer experience for users aged 13 and over, and refers to the nature of the content teens could see in a PG-13 film.

In a recent blog, the company clarified that although social media differs from film, these modifications are meant to keep the incidence of suggestive and highly colored content exposure to teens to a minimum and infrequent, similar to the moderated setting of age-specific films.

The action indicates that Meta continues to balance engagement and safety on its site. Meta said (via Dexerto):

"While of course there are differences between movies and social media, we made these changes so teens’ experiences in the 13+ setting feel closer to the Instagram equivalent of watching a PG-13 movie. 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 rolls out PG-13 rating to make the platform safer for teens

Instagram is introducing a new rating called the PG-13 that should help prevent such misuse by teens. The update will filter posts with strong language, dangerous challenges, and content that may encourage harmful behavior, such as marijuana use, in addition to already restrictive posts on s*xually suggestive content, graphic content, and advertisements of adult products, like alcohol or tobacco.

According to Dexerto, underage users will not be allowed to follow the accounts that regularly post age-inappropriate content, and any previous interactions with such accounts, such as DMs, comments, and the visibility of content, will be automatically disabled. More content settings can be enabled by the parent, but with some restrictions; the smaller, stricter limited content can be enabled as well.

The new system is being rolled out in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, and it is projected to be rolled out globally by the end of 2025. And Meta intends to also roll out similar protections to teens who lie about their age, with similar protections also to Facebook.

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