Instagram is applying cinematic logic to its content moderation, using famous PG-13/12A films like Titanic and The Fast and the Furious to explain the new rules that will govern your teen’s feed.
The core principle is to make the “13+” default setting for teens behave like a movie with a “parental guidance” rating. This means it’s not a completely sanitized “G-rated” world, but one where the most intense content is removed.
Using Titanic as an example, the company explained why the new system won’t completely prohibit all nudity. Just as the film’s brief, non-sexual nudity was deemed acceptable for a PG-13 audience, Instagram’s new rules will allow for similar contextual nuance.
Similarly, the reference to The Fast and the Furious clarifies the policy on violence. The kind of moderate, stylized action violence seen in the franchise will not be entirely blocked for teen accounts, distinguishing it from more graphic or realistic depictions.
By using these well-known cinematic touchstones, Meta is trying to make its abstract policies concrete and understandable for parents. However, the logic of a two-hour film is hard to apply to an infinite scroll, and the success of this translation from the silver screen to the small screen remains to be seen.
Picture Credit: www.pixahive.com
