Meta’s Instagram rolls out PG-13 safety settings for teens amid pressure

Teenagers on Instagram will be restricted to seeing PG-13 content by default and won’t be able to change their settings without a parent’s permission, Meta announced on Tuesday.

This means kids using teen-specific accounts will see photos and videos on Instagram that are similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie – no sex, drugs or dangerous stunts, among others.

“This includes 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,” Meta said in a blog post on Tuesday, calling the update the most significant since it introduced teen accounts last year.

The decision to apply standards invented by the film industry for children younger than 13 years old is part of an effort to adopt “the most protective settings” for teenagers, according Capucine Tuffier, Meta head of public affairs in charge of child protection.

The update is rolling out in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States, with plans to expand to more countries in the coming months.

The company is also adding an even stricter setting that parents can set up for their children.

  

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