Thirty years ago, parents everywhere were compelled to weigh the pros and cons of allowing their kids to see Titanic. At the time, it was the biggest movie ever made, a historical epic (potentially educational) about mass death (possibly traumatizing) with a romantic plotline that was maybe too exciting (you know what I mean!). It was rated PG-13—a guideline that recommended caution but ultimately ruled the movie to be appropriate for millions of teenagers—resulting in a fortune for its creators and the subsequent blessings of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career.
Instagram is now adopting the same label for a teen-safety feature, but the possible outcomes are less discrete and obvious. Meta announced earlier this week that all Instagram users under the age of 18 will be automatically placed in what it’s calling a PG-13 version of the app, where only content that might appear in a PG-13 movie will, ideally, be visible. “We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default,” the company wrote in a news post.
Read: The biggest change to Instagram in years
This is an update to an existing Teen Accounts feature, which already sought to limit exposure to graphic violent and sexual content, as well as to posts promoting cosm
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