Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents
Are you a parent concerned with what your child is consuming on Instagram? In 2025, social media feeds are resembling the wild west more and more, with algorithms designed to draw the user in and keep them scrolling endlessly with posts targeted at not only their specific interests, but at human nature’s desires…
Well the GOOD news is that on Tuesday, the Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced on TODAY that big changes will be coming to the platform’s Teen Account settings.
Described by the company as “Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents”, Teen Accounts will retain the usual functions such as privatized accounts, blocked search terms, restricted access to sensitive content, and a default setting with parent controls. The new feature is for the account to function on PG-13 guidelines.
Whilst on TODAY, Mosseri announced, "Parents don't have to do anything," he said. "So the way it works is by default, every teen that has a teen account will be in the 13-plus rating, which means that the content they see on Instagram will largely align with a PG-13 movie.
"Now, like in a PG-13 movie, where you might actually occasionally hear a swear word, you will occasionally come across content that might be risky because we either missed it or because it was said by a friend. But, generally, there is a lot more restriction on what you can't see."
The PG-13 is default, but parents still have control over what their child can see, with either adult content or restricted content settings.
Here is a formal list from Instagram regarding the changes, designed to make the app safer for teens:
Teens will be unable to follow Instagram accounts that regularly share adult content or even those that contain bios or usernames that suggest inappropriate material. Teens that already follow these accounts will no longer be able to interact with them. Additionally, teens and "mature" accounts will have a harder time even finding each other on Instagram, through search or recommendation.
Teens will not be exposed to content with strong language, risky behavior or material that shows, for example, drug accessories.
Teens whose parents don’t want them viewing PG-13 content have an even stricter option called “Limited Content,” which disables comments on content shown to teens.
Teens are now blocked from viewing a longer list of search results, such as “gore” and “alcohol,” even if they’re misspelled.
Teens will have a PG-13 experience interacting with Instagram’s AI feature.
