The social media platform Instagram, a subsidiary of Meta, introduced stricter rules for teen accounts on its app on Tuesday.
The stricter rules currently apply only in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom for the moment. From early 2026, the new guidelines are planned to be implemented in Europe as well.
"Instagram Teen Accounts will be guided by PG-13 movie ratings by default. This means that teens will see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie," the company said in a press release.
This means that teenagers under 18 are automatically assigned to '13+' settings and cannot change them without parental permission. If they are sent content that is 18+, it will not be visible. Parents who want even stricter controls can select the 'Limited Content' option.
Logo of the social media platform app Instagram, owned by Meta. Credit: Belga/Bruno Fahy
Instagram will use artificial intelligence (AI) to determine whether content is 'PG-13' or not. This term refers to a guideline from the American film industry: PG stands for 'Parental Guidance,' and content marked with this label is considered inappropriate for children under the age of 13.
From now on, all posts containing "strong language, certain risky stunts, and additional content that could encourage potentially harmful behaviours" will be hidden or not recommended to teen accounts.
"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 are going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible," the press release said.
Teens on Instagram are also now prohibited from following accounts that "regularly share content that is not appropriate for their age," including accounts that link to OnlyFans pages in their bios or that openly post 18+ content, a Meta spokesperson said. Those who already follow such accounts will "no longer be able to see or interact with that content."
AI to catch liars?
Last year, Instagram already implemented the change that automatically assigns "teen accounts" to users under the age of 16 and according to Meta, this is the most significant update to accounts since they were introduced.
The company will now also use AI to check whether users are lying about their age. "We know teens may try to avoid these restrictions, which is why we will use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections – even if they claim to be adults."
Meta has been using artificial intelligence to help determine age ranges for some time, but leveraging it in this way is "a big change," they said.
Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from creating an account on the platform.
