Meta to Limit Teen Exposure to Certain Content on Instagram

Meta is experimenting with new limits on the type of content teens can interact with on Instagram. The company says that it will now attempt to restrict "repeated" exposure to posts about anxiety, weightlifting, nutrition and other content that could be inappropriate for younger users to see en masse.

The new limits come after Meta took steps last year to prevent teens from seeing "sexually suggestive" content and blocked "mature search terms," like queries related to alcohol and gore. The company said at the time that parents should view its teen accounts as analogous to a PG-13 movie, a comparison that was roundly rejected by the Motion Picture Association.

With the latest change, it seems that Meta wants to limit repeated exposure to the types of posts that don't violate its rules but may negatively impact teens when viewed in large quantities. According to Meta this could include content that relates to body image, like nutrition and weightlifting, as well as mental health, like "how to cope with anxiety." The goal, according to Meta, is for these topics to "be balanced with other types of content rather than shown repeatedly." The limits will apply to recommendations teens see in their feed, as well as Explore and Reels.

Instagram in particular has long faced questions about whether it leads younger users into so-called algorithmic "rabbit holes" in which teens end up seeing repeated recommendations for content that affects their mental health and self esteem. The topic also came up during a high-profile civil trial over social media addiction in Los Angeles. The jury in that case ultimately ruled against Meta.

Meta also revealed that it plans to expand its more restrictive content settings for teens accounts on other platforms, including Facebook and Messenger. The new settings are rolling out to those apps "later this year."