Today, we’re announcing the expansion of Instagram’s age-appropriate 13+ content rating and Limited Content setting to India. This means that teens will 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. 

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 we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible. We recognise no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time. We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default, while also giving them more ways to shape their teens’ experience. 

Updating Our Content Policies for Teens, Inspired by Movie Ratings Criteria and Parent Feedback

Teen Accounts were already designed to protect teens from inappropriate content and we’ve continued to refine our age-appropriate guidelines to hide even more potentially inappropriate content in the updated default 13+ content setting. 

We’ve decided to align our policies with an independent standard that parents are familiar with, so we reviewed our age-appropriate guidelines against movie ratings for ages 13+ and updated them accordingly. While of course there are differences between movies and social media, we made these changes so 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 our 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 – our 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.

Expanding Protections Across Teen Accounts

We’ve improved and refined our technology to proactively identify content that goes against our updated age-appropriate guidelines, and we’re using this improved technology across Instagram, including: 

• Accounts: Teens will no longer be able to follow accounts that we’ve 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. We won’t recommend these accounts to teens, and we’ll make it harder for teens 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: We already block search terms related to certain sensitive topics, like suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. Now we’ll block teens’ ability to see content results for a wider range of mature search terms, such as ‘alcohol’ or ‘gore’— and we’re working to make sure these terms will still be blocked if they’re misspelled.
• Content Experience: Teens shouldn’t see content that goes against our 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: We’ve also updated our AI experiences for teens, inspired by movie ratings for ages 13+, meaning AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a movie rated for ages 13+.

Introducing Limited Content: A New, Stricter Setting for Parents Who Prefer Extra Controls 

Every family is different and, for some parents, movies rated for ages 13+ may still feel too mature for their teen. That’s why we’re 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.

When to Expect These Changes

The updated content settings have started rolling out gradually to Teen Accounts in India and will be fully rolled out in the coming months.