Instagram rolls out revamped Teen Accounts, inspired by 13+ movie ratings criteria and parent feedback

Instagram has announced a significant update to Instagram Teen Accounts, strengthening protections for teens in Pakistan and offering parents more control over their teens’ experiences online. Instagram Teen Accounts are now inspired by 13+ movie ratings criteria and parent feedback, so the goal is that teens see content on Instagram that’s similar to what they’d see in an age-appropriate movie by default.

Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ setting, and they won’t be able to opt out without a parent’s permission. For parents who want an even more restrictive experience for their teen, Instagram is also offering a new, stricter setting called Limited Content.

This follows the initial launch of these new content settings, which rolled out to Instagram Teen Accounts in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada in October 2025. This is the most significant update to Teen Accounts since their introduction last year, and builds on the automatic protections already provided by Teen Accounts to hundreds of millions of teens globally.

Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a movie rated for ages 13+, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram, but the platform is going to keep doing all it can to keep those instances as rare as possible. Instagram recognises that no system is perfect, and it is committed to improving over time. It is hoped that this update reassures parents that Instagram is working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content by default, while also giving them more ways to shape their teens’ experience.

Teen Accounts were already designed to protect teens from inappropriate content – but Instagram heard from parents that they wanted more clarity over the kind of content their teens were seeing on the social platform.

Instagram decided to align its policies with an independent standard that parents are familiar with, reviewing its age-appropriate guidelines against 13+ movie ratings criteria and updated them accordingly. While of course there are differences between movies and social media, the goal behind these changes is to make teens’ experiences in the 13+ setting feel closer to the Instagram equivalent of watching a movie that’s been rated appropriate for 13+.

In addition to the longstanding policies – which already hide or prohibit the recommendation of sexually suggestive content, graphic or disturbing images, and adult content like tobacco or alcohol sales from teens – the updated policies will now go even further. 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.

Instagram has improved and refined its technology to proactively identify content that goes against its updated age-appropriate guidelines, and the improved technology is being used across the app, including:

Accounts: Teens will no longer be able to follow accounts that have been found regularly share age-inappropriate content, or 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. Instagram won’t recommend these accounts to teens and will make it harder for them to find these accounts in Search. These protections work both ways: these accounts won’t be able to follow teens, send them DMs, or comment on their posts.

Search: Instagram already blocks search terms related to certain sensitive topics, like suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. Now the platform blocks teens’ ability to see content results for a wider range of mature search terms, such as ‘alcohol’ or ‘gore’ and it is working to make sure these terms will still be blocked if they’re misspelled.

Content Experience: Teens shouldn’t see content that goes against the updated guidelines in recommendations (Explore, Reels, and in-Feed), Feed, and Stories – even when shared by someone they follow – or comments. If someone sends a teen a link to such content in DMs, they won’t be able to open it.

AI: Instagram has also updated its AI experiences for teens, inspired by 13+ movie ratings criteria and parent feedback, meaning AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a movie rated for ages 13+.

Every family is different and, for some parents, movies rated for ages 13+ may still feel too mature for their teen. That’s why Instagram is introducing a new, stricter setting called ‘Limited Content,’ which will filter even more content from the Teen Account experience. It will also remove teens’ ability to see, leave, or receive comments under posts. The new Limited Content setting is designed to give parents more control over what their teen sees on Instagram.

As well as rolling out these new content settings to Instagram Teen Accounts, Meta is also starting to bring them to Facebook and Messenger Teen Accounts globally. Teens on Facebook and Messenger in Pakistan will start to be defaulted into the updated 13+ setting this week, and the Limited Content setting will become available later this year.

There are lots of differences between social media and movies. Instagram didn’t work with the MPA when updating its content settings, and the MPA are not rating any content on the app, and they’re not endorsing or approving Instagram’s content settings in any way. Rather, Instagram drew inspiration from the MPA’s public guidelines, which are already familiar to parents, as well as feedback from parents. The content moderation systems are not the same as a movie ratings board, so the experience may not be exactly the same.