Meta Platforms said on Tuesday that it is making its 13+ content settings available to teen accounts globally across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. The controls, first deployed in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada in October 2025, are intended to present younger users with age-appropriate material by default.
The company described how the 13+ default operates across its services. On Facebook, the setting is configured to hide content judged inappropriate for teens in sections such as Feed and Reels, and to restrict teens from interacting with Profiles, Pages, Groups and Events that primarily distribute content considered inappropriate for that age group. On Messenger, the 13+ default limits a teen's ability to view links to inappropriate Facebook content and to chat with accounts that predominantly share inappropriate material on Facebook.
Meta reported that 9 out of 10 teen users have stayed in the 13+ default since the setting launched. In addition to the default, the company offers a more restrictive option called Limited Content for parents who prefer tighter controls. Meta said the Limited Content setting will be made available on Facebook and Messenger later this year.
The company also referenced parental input collected as part of its rollout. Meta said it received feedback from hundreds of thousands of parents who rated more than 15 million pieces of content. In a survey conducted at the end of April among parents in the four initial countries, fewer than 2% of recommended Facebook posts for teens were judged inappropriate by most parents in those markets.
Separately, Meta said it is testing an Instagram feature designed to introduce more variety into teens' feeds and reduce the chance that they will encounter the same type of content repeatedly. The company described experiments aimed at limiting rapid repetition of subjects such as nutrition, weightlifting or coping with anxiety across Explore, Feed and Reels for teen accounts.
Meta engaged an external evaluator, Alice (formerly ActiveFence), to review and stress-test its Teen Account settings. According to Alice's assessment, Instagram Teen Accounts using the default 13+ setting experienced 68% less mature content compared with a leading competitor's teen experience. Instagram Teen Accounts set to Limited Content were found to see 96% less mature content than that competitor's teen experience, per Alice's analysis.
The outside review also identified two specific areas where improvement was needed. First, Alice found a small number of exceptions to Instagram safeguards that prevent interaction with accounts that frequently post age-inappropriate material; Meta said it updated its detection signals in response. Second, the analysis noted that “car surfing” had not been specifically covered by Meta's teen restrictions, while “subway surfing” was already restricted; Meta updated its policies to include car surfing among content restricted for teen accounts.
Meta said it will continue testing and refining the teen account experience, including rolling out the Limited Content option on Facebook and Messenger later in the year and expanding Instagram experiments aimed at reducing repetitive exposure to particular topics for teens.
Key points
- Meta has expanded its default 13+ content settings globally across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger to present age-appropriate content for teens.
- An optional Limited Content mode, providing a stricter experience, will become available on Facebook and Messenger later this year.
- The changes and tests affect sectors including social media platforms and broader technology services that host user-generated content.
Risks and uncertainties
- External testing found a few exceptions in Instagram's safeguards, indicating detection systems may miss some accounts that frequently share inappropriate material - a risk for content moderation performance and trust in platform safety.
- Policy coverage gaps were identified (for example, car surfing), which created a need for policy updates; such gaps can leave certain content types unaddressed until revised rules are implemented.
- Features under test, such as limiting repetitive exposure to topics on Instagram, may require further refinement before they deliver consistent results across regions and surfaces.