Instagram, the social media platform owned by Meta, has unveiled new protections for young users that mean teenagers will only see content on the platform that is the equivalent of what they would see in a PG-13 film.
The update, which will be available in Ireland from early 2026, will see the setting automatically applied to teen users under the age of 18.
Teenagers will be unable to opt out of the setting without a parent’s permission, the social media giant said in a statement on Tuesday.
The announcement follows a tightening of Instagram’s protections for children last year, when it moved to restrict who can contact teens and what content they can see, with the settings controlled by parental permission.
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On Tuesday, Meta said it has now decided to “more closely align” Instagram’s policies with an “independent standard that parents are familiar with”.
The company reviewed its age-appropriate guidelines against PG13 movie ratings and “updated them accordingly”, the Facebook owner said.
The platform is also unveiling “a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen”.
Teen users will also no longer be able to follow accounts that Instagram has found to regularly share age-inappropriate content, or if their name or bio is inappropriate for teens.
“In addition to our long-standing 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,” the group said.
“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.
“We took parent feedback into account as we developed these changes, and we’re giving parents ways to continue to provide us with feedback so we can make improvements,” it said.
“We invited thousands of parents around the world to rate real Instagram content and tell us if they thought it was appropriate for teens. We received over 3 million content ratings from parents, and incorporated this feedback when refining our age-appropriate guidelines.”
The updates will begin rolling out in the US, UK, Australia and Canada from Wednesday and will come to Ireland and the rest of the world next year, a spokeswoman said.
Meta will report highly anticipated third-quarter financial results later this month.
