The content guidelines will align more with PG-13 guidelines used in media.
Meta is expanding its content guidelines on Instagram to protect teen accounts- mainly guided by PG-13 content guidelines, adding a sense of familiarity for parents.
According to Meta’s newsroom post, any accounts under the age of 18 will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ account style and won’t be able to opt out without the permission of a parent.
Meta also noted that it is introducing new stricter settings for parents who want what the social media giant describes as “a more “restrictive experience.” According to screenshots shared by the platform, this setting is labelled as “Limited Content.” An in-between setting, aligned towards more PG-13 settings, is labelled as “Ages 13+”, with a more 18+ style setting for older teens labelled as “More Content.”
Introduced last year, teen accounts added protection layers, including restrictions on who could contact them, what content teens could view, and how much time they spent on the app.
Including the new PG-13 content settings, Meta has also expanded protection for teen accounts, which include restrictions on who teens can follow, what they can search for (Alcohol and gore are examples), and even updating Meta AI to not provide results for anything above a PG-13 rating if prompted.
Instagram accounts that teens will no longer be able to mention are ones that, according to the platform, “regularly share age-inappropriate content,” or if their information suggests that the creator posts suggestive content.
Meta added that, similarly to the PG-13 guidelines, teens with the 13+ setting active may see some suggestive content or hear strong language. Meta also acknowledged that no system is perfect, and that occasionally stronger content will slip through.
Last month, Instagram announced that the platform would use AI to detect which adult accounts are being used by teens, training its model to identify account creation dates and user interactions on the account.
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