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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 14, 2025, 7:00 AM EDTBy David IngramInstagram said Tuesday that it would overhaul its approach to teenagers’ accounts and try to crack down on their access to objectionable content after a firestorm of bad publicity over how teens use the social media app.Instagram, which is owned by Meta, announced a series of changes that it said were aimed at making teens’ experience on Instagram similar to viewing PG-13 movies, with equivalent restrictions on sexualized content and other adult material.One new restriction that Instagram said it would adopt is called age-gating: If an Instagram account regularly shares content that is age-inappropriate — for example, content related to alcohol or links to pornographic websites — then, the company said, it will block all teen accounts from being able to see or chat with that account. The age-gating could apply even to celebrities or other widely followed adult accounts, Instagram said. But it did not say precisely where it would draw the line for adult accounts that do not want to be age-gated. A company representative said sharing one piece of age-inappropriate content would not be enough for an adult-run account to lose access to the teen audience.Other apps, such as YouTube, also use age-gating to restrict access to certain types of content.A second new restriction on Instagram will block teens’ search results for a wider range of adult search terms, going beyond its current list of restricted terms, it says.The changes apply only to teen-specific accounts, which are accounts that teens have created using their truthful birth dates or accounts that Instagram has determined through its own investigation are likely to be those of people under 18 years old.It is common for teens to lie about their ages online to avoid certain restrictions. A 2024 survey of U.K. teens by the media regulator Ofcom found that 22% of 17-year-olds said they lied on social media that they were 18 or older.A representative for Instagram said it tries to catch teens who lie about their ages but declined to say how often it finds them doing so.In announcing the latest changes, Instagram said it was borrowing the thinking behind the PG-13 movie rating, which suggests “parental guidance” because of “some material parents might not like for their young children.” The film industry voluntarily released the modern film rating system in the 1960s when it, too, was facing the threat of government regulation.“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,” Instagram said in a statement.The company said that for teen accounts, it would hide or not recommend posts with strong language, certain risky stunts, sexually suggestive poses or marijuana paraphernalia. It also said artificial intelligence experiences for teens would be “guided by PG-13 ratings by default,” with limits on the types of responses given.It said the same content restrictions would apply until account holders become adults, providing the same experience to 17-year-olds as to 13-year-olds.Some parents have complained for years that Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps do not do enough to protect teens’ well-being. Last year, during a Senate hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to parents in the gallery who said Instagram contributed to their children’s deaths or exploitation.Instagram does not verify self-reported ages at sign-up in the United States, and Meta is a member of two trade associations, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, that have sued to block state laws that would require age verification. In June, the trade groups won injunctions against state-mandated age checks in Florida and Georgia.Instagram allows kids as young as 13 years old to create accounts. Last year, it introduced teen-specific accounts, saying all minors would be routed into such accounts automatically with limits on messaging and tagging.Instagram says teens have created millions of teen-specific accounts, although it has declined to say how many of those accounts remain active after they are created.Instagram is rolling out the overhaul after a withering year in the public spotlight. In August, Reuters reported that an internal Meta document permitted children to engage in “romantic or sensual” AI chats, including on an Instagram chatbot.In September, two former employees of Meta testified before Congress that the company blocked their research into teen safety in virtual reality and avoided adopting certain safety measures if those measures would mean fewer teens use the company’s apps, including Instagram and Facebook.“Children drive profits,” one of the former employees, Jason Sattizahn, said in an interview last month. “If Meta invests more in safety to get kids off of them, engagement goes down, monetization goes down, ad revenue goes down. They need them.”Meta at the time criticized Sattizahn’s testimony and the testimony of another former employee, Cayce Savage, saying that their claims were “nonsense” and they were “based on selectively leaked internal documents that were picked specifically to craft a false narrative.” It said it had no “blanket prohibition on conducting research with young people.”A report last month from several child safety groups, including Fairplay, criticized Instagram’s teen account features as failing to deliver substantial safety benefits. The report also urged that “recommendations made to a 13-year-old Teen Account should be reasonably PG rated.” Meta said that the report was misleading and that it misrepresented the company’s efforts.David IngramDavid Ingram is a tech reporter for NBC News.

- Latest News - October 14, 2025

After outrage over teens’ well-being on Instagram erupted, the company said it would adopt the film industry’s approach and give teens a PG-13 experience.

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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 13, 2025, 9:02 PM EDTBy Raquel Coronell UribeHomeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday evening that despite the government shutdown, Coast Guard service members will get their paychecks this week.Noem said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard, found an “innovative” way to provide the money. The announcement came two days after President Donald Trump said he would direct the Defense Department to pay military members Wednesday, even though the majority of government workers are not getting paid during the federal funding lapse.“President Trump did not want any of our military to go without pay as a result of Democrats’ political theater, and we at DHS worked out an innovative solution to make sure that didn’t happen,” Noem said on X.Asked for details about the “innovative solution” or where the funding would come from, a DHS spokesperson did not provide any new information and instead referred NBC News to the text of Noem’s social media post.We’d like to hear from you about how you’re experiencing the government shutdown, whether you’re a federal employee who can’t work right now or someone who is feeling the effects of shuttered services in your everyday life. Please contact us at tips@nbcuni.com or reach out to us here.The White House Office of Management and Budget said over the weekend that it plans to use research and development funds to deliver paychecks to military service members this week.The administration began laying off more than 4,000 federal workers across seven departments last week. Of those, 176 were DHS employees, according to a Justice Department court filing Friday. The layoffs are being challenged in court.JD Vance says Democrats ‘forced’ Trump administration to lay off workers03:25The moves to pay some uniformed service members who would otherwise not be paid during the shutdown are the latest efforts by the administration to offset some of the less popular aspects of the funding lapse, which is about to hit the two-week mark.Congress does not appear to have a plan to reopen the government.The Senate has repeatedly voted and failed to pass Republican and Democratic versions of a temporary funding bill. The chamber is back in session Tuesday, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he won’t bring House back until the Senate passes a funding bill.Raquel Coronell UribeRaquel Coronell Uribe is a breaking news reporter. 

- Latest News - October 14, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security found an “innovative solution” to ensure Coast Guard personnel get paid. Most federal workers aren’t receiving paychecks.

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