Meta has announced a major expansion of its 13+ content settings for Teen Accounts, rolling out the policy globally across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, in the latest move to tighten protections for under-18 users.
Under the new system, all users under 18 will automatically be transferred into Teen Accounts subject to 13+ content barriers inspired by PG-13 movie rating criteria. Teens will only be able to opt out of these restrictions with explicit parental permission.
“Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a movie rated for ages 13+, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram,” Meta said in a statement.
The updated restrictions are intended to hide and stop the recommendation of content containing strong language and risky stunts. They will also cover material that could encourage potentially harmful behaviour, including posts showing marijuana paraphernalia.
The tighter controls build on existing policies that already hide and prohibit the recommendation of sexually suggestive content, graphic or disturbing images, and adult content such as tobacco or alcohol sales to teens.
Meta will also block under-18s from following accounts it has identified as regularly sharing age-inappropriate content. If teens already follow those accounts, they will no longer be able to see or interact with the content.
Search restrictions will also be introduced for mature terms such as 'alcohol' and 'gore'. Meta said it is working on a solution to ensure those terms remain blocked even when misspelt.
The restrictions will extend to Meta AI, with safeguards designed to stop the chatbot from generating age-inappropriate responses.
“We hope this update reassures parents that we’re working to show teens safe, age-appropriate content on Instagram by default, while also giving them more ways to shape their teen’s experience,” Meta said.
The company is also introducing a stricter parental setting for families who want tighter controls.
“Because we know that all families are different, we’re also introducing a new, stricter setting for parents who prefer a more restrictive experience for their teen,” Meta added.
For the ad industry, the announcement is welcome, with some calling the rollout overdue. "If anything, it's late," says Amaury Treguer, co-founder of specialist social media agency Bread. "The reality is that platforms have spent years optimising for engagement while society has become increasingly concerned about what that engagement is doing to younger audiences."
Treguer believes the challenge now will be ensuring restrictions are nuanced enough to protect teens without limiting access to genuinely educational or supportive content. "What's interesting is that we're entering an era in which platforms are starting to compete on safety and trust as much as on attention and scale."
Session limits on sensitive topics
Alongside the broader rollout, Meta is testing limits on how many posts teens can see on topics such as nutrition, weightlifting and coping with anxiety in a single session.
“We recognise that some content—like posts about nutrition, weightlifting, or how to cope with anxiety—can be helpful, but it should be balanced with other types of content rather than shown repeatedly,” the company said. “That’s why we’re testing ways to limit teens from seeing too many posts of this kind in one go, including in Explore, Feed and Reels.”
Treguer says some categories will feel the impact most. "Some brands will absolutely feel it, particularly those whose growth depends on keeping users in an endless loop of body-transformation, optimisation, or self-improvement content. The winners will be the brands that can inspire action without relying on repetition or obsession."
Meta’s announcement comes amid tightening global restrictions on social media use for teenagers. Last December, Australia implemented the world’s first statutory social media ban for children under 16, which took effect on 10 December 2025. Platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X, YouTube and Threads must now prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts, or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$32.5 million).
According to data from the Australian government and internet regulator, social media companies collectively deactivated, removed or restricted 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to Australian children in the first few weeks alone. Meta reported blocking roughly 550,000 accounts in the opening days of the ban.
Implications for advertisers
The issue of social media’s impact on young people has also remained in the spotlight following a number of high-profile legal and regulatory challenges. In a landmark trial earlier this year in California, 20-year-old Kaley G.M. successfully sued Meta and Google over harms linked to childhood social-media use.
Campaign previously explored whether the ad industry should fund healthier social media. Advertising dollars remain the lifeblood of these platforms, with advertisers pouring an estimated US$200 billion annually into Meta and TikTok, capitalising on the dopamine-driven engagement models that keep users scrolling.
“If advertisers want to reach younger audiences in healthy ways, they need to fund new alternatives that aren’t going to be created by the entrenched powers in these spaces,” said Geoffrey Colon, chief strategy officer at Feelrmedia. “Also, competition is good especially if it is ethical by design.”
For advertisers, Meta’s recent changes highlight the increasing constraints around reaching younger audiences on major platforms. Since 2023, advertisers have already been limited to targeting teens only by age and location (no interests, activities, or gender), and under the new 13+ content barriers, restricted topics are now set to “see less” by default. As Meta and other social media companies tighten safeguards, brands may need to reassess how they approach teen audiences, particularly in categories such as wellness, fitness and lifestyle.
"It's exposed a weakness that many marketers have quietly developed: an overdependence on targeting," says Treguer. "For years, platforms let advertisers compensate for average creative with extraordinary precision. That era is fading, which is for the best. The brands that thrive with teen audiences in APAC will be the ones that earn attention culturally, not just buy it algorithmically. In many ways, if targeting becomes less powerful, the work itself has to do more of the heavy lifting."
