Additional Coverage:
- Meta under scrutiny over child safety as Instagram rolls out ‘PG-13’ rules for teens (foxbusiness.com)
Instagram Rolls Out PG-13 Style Restrictions for Teen Accounts Amid Mental Health Concerns
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is implementing new restrictions on how teenagers use the popular social media platform. This move comes as increasing pressure from lawmakers and parents highlights concerns about the app’s potential impact on the mental well-being of young users.
“We really do have your back,” stated Meta spokesperson Tara Hopkins during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday. “We have done so much research with parents to really understand the kinds of things that they’re most concerned about.”
Under the new system, teen Instagram accounts will now be guided by a PG-13 rating system, a model familiar to parents from movie classifications. This means that content visible to teens will generally align with what would be found in a PG-13 rated film.
“Today, we’re announcing that Instagram Teen Accounts will be guided by PG-13 movie ratings by default,” Meta detailed in a company blog post. “This means that teens will see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”
Hopkins explained that the company chose the movie rating model to offer a more understandable framework for parents. “That’s a much more familiar model for parents,” she noted, adding that parents “understand that much better than they maybe would understand the way a company like Meta would speak about our content ratings.”
New teen users will automatically be enrolled in the PG-13 setting and will require parental permission to opt out. The company states that the new system will filter out posts containing strong language or risky behaviors. Furthermore, teens will be prevented from following or interacting with accounts that share age-inappropriate content.
Despite Meta’s assurances, some parents remain cautious. A recent report titled “Teen Accounts, Broken Promises,” published by a coalition of online safety advocacy groups, examined 47 Instagram safety features. The report concluded that 30 of these features were either ineffective or no longer available, nine offered reduced harm, and only eight functioned as advertised without significant limitations.
In response to such criticisms, Hopkins affirmed that Meta is actively listening to parental feedback and incorporating it into its product development. “We have over 40,000 people at Meta who are dedicated to safety and integrity,” she emphasized.
“We really care very, very deeply about this. We want parents to have that confidence that when their teenager is using Instagram, they’re in a very safe and protective experience, particularly when they’re younger, below the age of 18.”