Instagram will continue to use the movie industry’s PG-13 rating in referring to its parent-controlled Teen Accounts — but it’s going to “substantially reduce” references to the mark, and when it does will add a disclaimer explaining that “There are lots of differences between social media and movies.”
The Motion Picture Association announced Tuesday it reached a resolution with Meta over the MPA’s objection of the internet giant’s use of the trademarked PG-13 film rating in connection with marketing Instagram Teen Accounts.
As part of the resolution, Meta agreed to “substantially reduce” its references to the MPA’s “PG-13” trademark when describing Teen Accounts.
Meta also agreed to include a disclaimer that will read like this: “There are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, and they’re not rating any content on Instagram, and they’re not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way. Rather, we drew inspiration from the MPA’s public guidelines, which are already familiar to parents. Our content moderation systems are not the same as a movie ratings board, so the experience may not be exactly the same.” A shorter disclaimer will be used where space is limited, according to the MPA.
The terms of the agreement take effect April 15.
“Today’s agreement clearly distinguishes the MPA’s film ratings from Instagram’s Teen Account content moderation tools,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement. “While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems – which operate in very different contexts. The MPA is proud of the trust we have built with parents for nearly sixty years with our film rating system, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect that trust.”
A Meta rep said in a statement said the company was “pleased to have reached an agreement with the MPA.”
“By taking inspiration from a framework families know, our goal was to help parents better understand our teen content policies. We rigorously reviewed those policies against 13+ movie ratings criteria and parent feedback, updated them, and applied them to Teen Accounts by default. While that’s not changing, we’ve taken the MPA’s feedback on how we talk about that work. We’ll keep working to support parents and provide age-appropriate experiences for teens.”
For nearly 60 years, the MPA’s Classification and Rating Administration’s (CARA) voluntary film rating system has helped American parents make informed decisions about what movies their children can watch. The Ratings Board is comprised of parents who must have a child between the ages of five and 15 when they first join, and they can serve up to seven years or until their youngest child turns 21. The Board watches every movie in its entirety and assigns it a rating and descriptor that aligns with the views of the majority of American parents – and filmmakers can appeal decisions if they disagree. Over 90% of parents say CARA’s film ratings help them make better viewing choices for their families.
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