• Source:JND
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Instagram is further tightening its controls for teenage users, rolling out stricter settings that limit what teens can see and interact with on the platform. As part of the update, older teens will no longer be able to bypass the default restrictions without parental approval, marking a significant step in Meta’s ongoing effort to protect young users online.

Meta first introduced teen accounts on Instagram a year ago, automatically moving teens into accounts with enhanced privacy settings and parental controls. Since then, the company has extended similar protections to Facebook and Messenger, using AI tools to detect users who misrepresent their age. The latest update comes after years of scrutiny over Instagram’s impact on teen mental health and widespread criticism about the type of content young users are exposed to.

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Age-Gating and Content Limits:

Age-Gating:

Accounts that post age-inappropriate content, like alcohol, sexual material, or explicit links, will be blocked for teens.

This can apply to celebrities or widely followed adult accounts.

One inappropriate post will not automatically block an account.

Search and Content Restrictions:

Instagram will block more mature search terms, such as “alcohol,” “gore,” and common misspellings.

Posts from accounts teens already follow will be hidden if they break the rules, including messages in DMs.

PG-13 Alignment:

The update matches teen accounts with PG-13 movie standards.

All teen content, Feed, Stories, comments, recommendations, and search results, will now follow PG-13 rules.

Parental Controls and Supervised Accounts

Teens with supervised accounts will automatically be placed into this updated PG-13 experience and cannot opt out without parental permission. For parents seeking an even more restrictive experience, Instagram is introducing enhanced content settings that allow greater control over what their teens can access on the platform.

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In a blog post, Instagram explained the rationale behind the changes: “While Teen Accounts already have built-in protections, we understand that inappropriate content remains a top concern for parents, and our existing content settings can feel confusing. We wanted to align with an external standard parents are more familiar with, providing clarity and peace of mind.”