Bengaluru/New York, 14 Sept

Instagram announced on Tuesday that teenagers will see PG-13 content (or content that they would normally be appropriate for a PG-13 movie) by default. Teenagers will be unable to opt out unless their parents agree, the Meta said in a statement.

Mild suggestive material or language may appear for such users, but explicit or harmful content will be off-limits. Parents who want stricter content can opt for further restrictions.

“We know teens may try to avoid these restrictions, which is why we’ll use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections — even if they claim to be adults,” the post said. This means that Meta will use AI in conjuncture to other tools to predict whether a user is a teenager.

Develop on the pre-existing restrictions on sexually-explicit content, graphic or disturbing images, and adult content, content featuring strong language, risky stunts, or references to adult behaviour, including alcohol, marijuana, or other restricted items, will also be hidden or not recommended to teenagers.

Teenagers will also no longer be able to follow accounts that Meta believes regularly shares age-inappropriate content, or if their “if their name or bio suggests the account is inappropriate for teens. If teens already follow these accounts, they’ll no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send them DMs, or see their comments under anyone’s posts”.

The updated content settings began in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada on Tuesday and will be fully rolled out by the end of the year.

The new restrictions:

Teens will no longer be able to follow or interact with accounts that we’ve found regularly share age-inappropriate content. Teens will no longer be able to search for “sensitive topics”. Meta will use AI to monitor whether a person is underaged by analysing their photos, livestreams and videos.