Instagram Expands Its PG-13-Inspired Content Guidelines for Teen Accounts to Europe
Following two massive losses in U.S. courts regarding children’s online safety, Meta is expanding its teen safety programs. The company announced Thursday that it is expanding the use of its PG-13 movie rating-inspired standard to teen audiences internationally, particularly in Europe.
The PG-13 rating, as we all know it, was created by the Motion Picture Association. This is essentially a warning sign to parents that a film has content that may not be suitable for children under 13 due to violence, language, sex, or other factors. Instagram’s teen accounts are limiting the types of content users receive, claiming they are now “inspired” by the MPA’s PG-13 rating.
Meta rolled out these changes in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada in October 2025. Shortly after, the MPA sent Meta a cease and desist letter in November 2025 for using the term PG-13 without authorization. In March, the two organizations reached an agreement to clarify what the standard meant when used in reference to social media content.
“While there are of course differences between movies and social media, we made these changes so that the experiences of teens 13 and up approximate the Instagram equivalent of watching a movie deemed appropriate for 13 and up,” Meta said in a blog post Thursday announcing the policy.
This is Meta’s latest move to reassure the public that its platforms are safe for young users. On March 24, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for negligence. to mislead users about child safety and authorizing child exploitation, ordering the company to pay $375 million in punitive damages. The next day, March 25, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for deliberately build their social media platforms to be addictive. Meta disagreed with both verdicts and Google announced its intention to appeal.
Top 13 Instagram Accounts for Teens
Instagram teen accounts program launched in the United States in 2024. The goal was to move all users under 16 to these more private and secure accounts. Teen accounts are private by default, which means it’s harder for strangers to interact with them. These accounts are also subject to Instagram’s most restricted content settings, meaning they should not see posts that are sexually suggestive, contain graphic or disturbing images, or adult substances like tobacco and alcohol. Teens need a parent’s permission to turn off these default settings. Meta has taken these content restrictions one more step in October 2025 with its first version of more than 13 notes.
Teenagers’ Instagram accounts will be “hidden”[e] recommend or not recommend posts containing strong language, some risky stunts, and additional content that could encourage potentially dangerous behavior, such as posts showing marijuana paraphernalia,” Meta reiterated in his blog this week.
He added that teens will no longer be allowed to follow people they already follow if those accounts have an “inappropriate” username and consistently share “age-inappropriate” content for teens. And for parents who don’t think these default settings are enough, Meta offers a new “Limited Content” setting that’s even stricter when it comes to comments and interactions with the AI. Meta came under fire last year when an internal report showed its AI chatbots would have “sensual” interactions with children.
Critics said Instagram’s content controls aimed at younger users could prevent them from seeing informational content. Instagram’s moderation systems, increasingly powered by AI, can struggle to interpret the context around specific keywords. For example, posts about reproductive health or eating disorders may be flagged, even if they are educational content.
