Instagram introduces ratings for content: what teenagers will also see.

According to Vox: Instagram is starting to resemble television, which may please some parents, but it also indicates how tech companies strive to capture our attention.

The company has announced new default settings for teen accounts that promise to show only content that is "similar to what they might see in a PG-13 rated movie." Additionally, new options offering PG- and R-rated content have emerged, but parents must approve the changes. Besides this, Instagram is considering launching a television app so users can watch Reels on the big screen in their living rooms.

These changes confirm the opinion of Derek Thompson, who is quoted:

“Everything is television.”

He cited data from a submission to the FTC, noting that only 7% of the time users spend on Instagram is spent interacting with content from acquaintances. Meanwhile, podcasts are starting to appear on platforms like Netflix, and artificial intelligence is creating an endless stream of content that can manipulate our consciousness.

“Digital media, driven by algorithmic feeds, have become super-television: more images, more videos, more isolation,”

Thompson emphasizes.

A brief history of television's impact on our minds

The old television was quite restrained due to technological limitations, federal regulations, and social norms. The number of channels was limited due to the scarcity of airwaves. Over time, the government created the Federal Communications Commission to oversee broadcasting.

In the early stages, there were concerns that television was damaging the minds of Americans, especially the young. Host Edward R. Murrow condemned entertainment television in 1957, calling it

“a true opium for the people.”

A few years later, in 1961, Newton Minow, chairman of the FCC, described television as

“a vast wasteland… a parade of game shows, formulaic comedies about improbable families, violence, bloodshed, murders, and cartoons.”

This man would hate TikTok.

The issues raised by Minow have become particularly relevant as children can immerse themselves in this content at any time. Subsequently, the FCC began to regulate the types of content broadcast at certain hours. Indecent content was banned, but starting in 1978, some indecent content became allowed between 10 PM and 6 AM, when children were thought to be sleeping. (Thanks to George Carlin for that.) This resulted in an early form of age verification, which, as shown by Instagram's announcement, remains a challenge online.

Despite this, child protection seems to be the only motivation for regulating modern super-television. The concerns are regarding the controversial impact of social media on the mental health of youth, and the

“unacceptable risks,”

posed by AI chatbots for children and teenagers. Legislators have many reasons to impose new regulations on platforms that have become the main broadcasters of the 21st century. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, co-authors of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), have recently launched a campaign to support this bill in the Senate, trying to push it through before the end of the year.

However, events are changing rapidly. With new AI-driven feeds such as Sora from OpenAI and Vibes from Meta, it’s becoming clear that digital media—or super-television, if you prefer—has its own problems of endless content.

The illusion of age-appropriate content on the internet

Enforcing a ban on certain content is challenging when there is no government agency overseeing airwaves or modern pipelines taking us online. So, the chosen path for regulation involves creating three internets: one for children under 13, one for teenagers, and one for adults. The PG, PG-13, and R internet, if you will.

Successful implementation of these goals requires age verification, and the current state of age verification gives the impression of chaos. Over three years, 25 states have passed laws requiring adult-content websites, including pornography, to verify the age of users. This is the R-rated internet. Some of these states also require age verification for social media platforms. As the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) imposes restrictions on websites that allow users under 13, this is the PG-13 internet. For PG-rated versions of websites, some of these protections are expected to be included, such as the ability to turn off automated algorithms, as recently proposed in New York.

It’s important to note that age verification on the internet is very complicated. Often, to verify age, one must confirm identity. Free speech advocates warn that strict age requirements could hinder anonymous adults from accessing content protected by the First Amendment. Civil liberties groups emphasize that age verification poses a significant security threat, which seems reasonable, given a recent hack of a company handling age verification that exposed records for 70,000 Discord users. High-tech age verification methods, such as using AI to estimate a user's age based on their activity or facial recognition, remain unproven. Children can easily bypass age verification systems by simply lying about their birthdate or using virtual private networks (VPNs).

Looking back at the golden age of television, when game shows and profanity were the main threats, one can see how the stakes have changed. Today, digital media is subject to such complex algorithms that even their developers don’t always understand how it works. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are interactive and deliberately create addiction. The use of these products is linked to depression, anxiety, and self-harm.

If the three-internet strategy works, it could be an improvement for parents who want their children to have age-appropriate online experiences. Perhaps there will be positive outcomes such as better privacy measures, which are a hallmark of legislation protecting children online. This could also be beneficial for those who simply wish to avoid accidental encounters with horrific scenes on their phones.

Creating child-safe feeds in a movie rating style or otherwise is a step towards ensuring content safety for everyone. At the very least, this indicates that Instagram and its competitors are prepared for it.

A version of this story was also published in the User Friendly newsletter.