Meta to Restrict PG-13 Content for Teen Accounts on Instagram and Introduce New Disclaimers After MPA Feedback
Meta Adjusts Use of PG-13 Rating for Instagram Teen Accounts
Meta has announced a significant reduction in its use of the Motion Picture Association’s (MPA) trademarked PG-13 film rating for Instagram Teen Accounts. This decision follows the platform’s controversial adoption of the rating last fall, aimed at reassuring parents concerned about youth engagement on the site.
In a recent agreement, Meta committed to "substantially reduce" references to the PG-13 classification and to clarify that it did not collaborate with the MPA during updates to its content moderation settings. The company added a disclaimer stating, “We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, and they’re not rating any content on Instagram, and they’re not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way. Rather, we drew inspiration from the MPA’s public guidelines, which are already familiar to parents.”
The disclaimer also emphasized differences between social media and movies: “There are lots of differences between social media and movies. Our content moderation systems are not the same as a movie ratings board, so the experience may not be exactly the same.”
Charles Rivkin, MPA chairman and CEO, welcomed the agreement, noting it clearly differentiates MPA’s film ratings from Instagram’s content moderation tools. “While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems – which operate in very different contexts,” he stated.
In mid-October, Meta had announced that its new content moderation tool for Instagram Teen Accounts would be guided by the PG-13 rating, a move that elicited a cease-and-desist letter from the MPA soon after.
A spokesperson for Meta commented, “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with the MPA. By taking inspiration from a framework families know, our goal was to help parents better understand our teen content policies. We rigorously reviewed those policies against 13+ movie ratings criteria and parent feedback, updated them, and applied them to Teen Accounts by default. While that’s not changing, we’ve taken the MPA’s feedback on how we talk about that work. We’ll keep working to support parents and provide age-appropriate experiences for teens.”
The terms of this agreement will take effect on April 15.
