MPA Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to Meta Over Instagram’s Use of ‘PG-13’ Label for Teen Accounts

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Nov 5

The Motion Picture Association accuses Meta of misleading parents by borrowing its iconic PG-13 rating for Instagram’s new teen safety framework.

A dispute between Hollywood’s most powerful lobbying group and one of Silicon Valley’s biggest platforms has officially gone public. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta, demanding the company stop using the MPA’s PG-13 film rating to describe Instagram’s “Teen Account” settings. The letter, sent on October 28, claims Meta’s use of the term is “literally false and highly misleading.”

In the letter, obtained by multiple outlets, the MPA argued that Meta’s new teen safety framework “misappropriates” the association’s decades-old film classification system. “The MPA has worked for decades to earn the public’s trust in its rating system,” the organization wrote. “Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”

The MPA, which represents major studios including Netflix, Paramount, Amazon MGM, Sony Pictures, Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery, maintains that Meta’s use of the “PG-13” label violates trademark and consumer protection principles by suggesting endorsement or affiliation. According to the group, its ratings — overseen by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) — are the product of a rigorous, parent-driven review process that has served as the industry’s family-viewing standard since 1968.

Meta, in its response, pushed back on the accusation. The company claims that its description of Teen Accounts as being “guided by PG-13 ratings” is both “factually accurate” and clearly metaphorical. “Meta’s statements regarding Teen Accounts being ‘guided by PG-13 ratings’ are factually accurate,” the company said in a statement shared with The Wall Street Journal. “The process involved a review and update of Meta’s content moderation protocol against the publicly available PG-13 standards.”

A Meta spokesperson emphasized that the initiative was intended to make Instagram safer for younger users while giving parents more control over what their teens see. “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,” the spokesperson said.

Instagram’s “Teen Accounts” feature, first introduced on October 14, applies new restrictions to users under 16. The framework limits exposure to content involving nudity, violence, drug use, or explicit language — guidelines that Meta says align with what “would be acceptable in a PG-13 movie.” Parental supervision tools are integrated into the app, giving adults more oversight while still allowing teens limited autonomy.

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Still, the comparison to Hollywood’s rating system may prove more trouble than it’s worth. Legal experts note that while Meta’s phrasing may avoid explicit claims of endorsement, the MPA’s film ratings — PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 — are protected as intellectual property, meaning any public-facing reference carries potential for confusion. “The MPA is highly protective of its ratings system because it represents trust,” one industry lawyer told The Cinema Group. “When you attach that language to a product as polarizing as Instagram, it risks diluting that reputation.”

The MPA’s ratings system, introduced in 1968 under then-chairman Jack Valenti, remains one of the most recognizable cultural markers in entertainment. Overseen by CARA, the board assigns ratings after viewing each film in full and debating its appropriate classification. According to the MPA, more than 90% of American parents find the system useful when determining what their children should watch — a statistic the organization says underscores why its credibility must be “safeguarded from misuse.”

Whether this dispute escalates into formal legal action remains unclear, but it highlights the growing friction between tech and entertainment over who defines “age-appropriate” content in the digital age. As Hollywood pushes for stricter creative protections and platforms experiment with their own self-regulation systems, even a rating as seemingly benign as “PG-13” can become a battleground for control over public trust.