Meta has announced that Instagram teen accounts are to be guided by PG-13 film ratings by default, meaning teens will see content that is similar to what they would see in a PG-13 movie.
The company said that teens under 18 will be automatically placed into an updated 13+ setting, and they will not be able to opt out of without a parent's permission.
Meta said it is also introducing a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen.
The changes will start rolling out gradually to teen accounts in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada from today and will come to Ireland and the rest of the world early next year.
"We know teens may try to avoid these restrictions, which is why we'll use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections - even if they claim to be adults," Instagram said.
"Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram - but we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible," the company said.
"We recognise no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time," it added.
Meta said it has also updated its artificial intelligence (AI) experiences for teens to be guided by PG-13 ratings by default, meaning AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.
A recent study found Instagram's tools, which are designed to protect teenagers from harmful content, are failing to stop them from seeing suicide and self-harm posts.
The investigation was carried out by the US research centre Cybersecurity for Democracy, as well as experts, including whistleblower Arturo Béjar, on behalf of child safety groups, including the Molly Rose Foundation.
Meta has said that it disagrees with the methodology of the report, and that its own research shows that young people are seeing less harmful content through teen accounts.
