The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has sent Facebook parent Meta Platforms a cease-and-desist letter after the social media firm publicised parental filters similar to the PG-13 film rating.
In October Meta said it would apply filters by default to the Instagram accounts of teenagers under 18 that would be inspired by PG-13 ratings, as it faces pressure to show that it is not prioritising its profitable advertising business over protecting young people.
The MPA said Meta’s claim that its filters are similar to the PG-13 rating is “literally false and highly misleading” because Meta’s systems do not follow the curated, consensus-based process the film ratings system is based on.
‘Public trust’
The association said Meta’s filters, by contrast, “appear to rely heavily on artificial intelligence”.
“The MPA has worked for decades to earn the public’s trust in its rating system,” the letter said.
“Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”
The MPA’s letter, dated 28 October, was sent to Meta chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead and asked the company to immediately disassociate the company’s Teen Accounts and AI filtering tools from the ratings system and to refrain from any use of the PG-13 registered mark, according to multiple reports.
The association sought a resolution by 3 November.
Child safety
Meta said in response that it did not claim teen accounts were certified by the MPA or officially PG-13 rated, only that it was “guided” by PG-13, and also argued its use of the term qualifies as fair use.
Parental concern about the harmful effects of social media platforms such as those from Meta and ByteDance’s TikTok on children have led to increasing regulatory pressure, with a number of countries following Australia’s lead in considering banning young people entirely from social media.
