By India McCarty
The Motion Picture Association warned Instagram parent company Meta to cease and desist when it comes to using their rating system.
“For more than half a century, the MPA has maintained the well-known motion picture rating system to guide moviegoers and parents alike regarding the content of films they are about to watch,” the MPA stated. “All of the ratings underlying the system are registered certification marks owned by MPA, including the famous PG-13 certification mark,” adding that they have “conclusive evidence of the validity of the PG-13 mark and of the MPA’s exclusive right to use that mark in commerce.”
The statement continued, “The only reason Meta invokes the PG-13 rating is because it knows that rating is an established standard long trusted by the public and wants to exploit that trust for Meta’s own benefit,” the MPA said, calling Instagram’s use of the PG-13 rating “literally false and highly misleading.”
Related: Instagram Gives Teen Accounts PG-13 Rating, But MPA Says Not So Fast
The MPA has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta, ordering it to stop using the PG-13 movie rating to describe Instagram‘s framework for its new teen settings.
The MPA called Instagram’s use of the PG-13 moniker “literally false and highly misleading,” adding: “The MPA has… pic.twitter.com/CMVP2XZIpJ
— Variety (@Variety) November 5, 2025
This fight started when Instagram rolled out Teen Accounts, promising not to show users content above a PG-13 rating.
“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,” a post on Meta’s blog explained. “We recognize no system is perfect, and we’re committed to improving over time. 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.”
However, the MPA quickly made it clear they were not affiliated with Instagram or Meta in any way.
“The Motion Picture Association was not contacted by Meta prior to the announcement of its new content moderation tool for Instagram Teen Accounts,” MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin said in a statement. “We welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, but assertions that Instagram’s new tool will be ‘guided by PG-13 movie ratings’ or have any connection to the film industry’s rating system are inaccurate.”
A Meta spokesperson responded, telling Deadline, “Parents tell us they want to better understand what their teens see on Instagram. To make things simpler for them, we updated our teen content policies to be closer to PG-13 movie standards — which parents already know. We know social media isn’t the same as movies, but we made this change to support parents, and we hope to work with the MPA to continue bringing families this clarity.”
Meta and the MPA are still duking it out, but it looks like the Motion Picture Association is serious about defending the integrity of its rating system.
Read Next: Instagram Takes Steps to Improve Teen Safety. Will They Work?
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +3