Instagram limits content shown to minors by imitating the film world
Meta's social network will show teenagers who have turned 13 similar content to what would appear in a PG-13 film
Instagram's Teenager Accounts, which have already been available for a year and were proposed to protect younger users and at the same time offer parents a tool to supervise their children's activity on the social network, receive an important update.
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As announced by Instagram, accounts belonging to this category will follow the PG-13 classification just as it does for films whose viewing is suitable for minors who have already turned 13. There is no need to take any action, nor will there be any settings to be activated as the update provides for this classification as the default setting for all accounts of adolescents under 18 years of age and cannot be disabled except with a parent's consent; in this regard, Instagram will continue to use age prediction technology to hinder minors who attempt valid tricks to circumvent restrictions.
While recognising the differences between the content of a film and that which appears in a social network feed, the Instagram team decided to update its policies to an independent standard already familiar to parents: the updated age-appropriate content guidelines aim to ensure that the experience of teenagers in the 13+ category is comparable, or at least close, to that of watching a PG-13 rated film.
And while sexually suggestive or adult content, such as the sale of alcohol or tobacco, was already hidden or banned from younger viewers, the new policies will prevent the appearance of posts promoting potentially harmful or marijuana-related behaviour. In this regard, a survey conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Meta found that almost all US parents, 95 per cent, consider these updated settings useful, and 90 per cent say they are more likely to understand what types of content their teenage child will see on Instagram.
But there is one more setting, that of Restricted Content designed to marry the habits of each family. Those who consider PG-13 content too mature for their children, in fact, will be able to increase the restrictions by activating this setting that will further filter what will be shown on the accounts of their children who, in addition, will no longer be able to view, write or receive comments under posts; a setting that during the next year will also extend to the conversations that minors can have with artificial intelligence.
