Instagram Got a Cease-and-Desist Over PG-13 Ratings
It’s not too late for Aaron Sorkin to work this into The Social Reckoning. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is currently in a back-and-forth with the Motion Picture Association, the organization behind film ratings — and neither side is showing signs of giving up. The MPA sent a cease-and-desist letter on October 28 over Meta’s recent announcement that Teen Accounts on Instagram will be “guided by” PG-13 ratings. In copies of the letter viewed by The Verge, the MPA argues that it has worked “for decades to earn the public’s trust in its rating system” and that Meta’s “literally false and highly misleading” use of the descriptor has “the real potential to erode that trust.”
The MPA has suggested that Meta’s ratings can’t be aligned at all if the company doesn’t follow the MPA’s “curated process”; the cease-and-desist letter asserts that Meta’s content restrictions instead “appear to rely heavily on artificial intelligence or other automated technology measures.” While the organization said it hopes to resolve this dispute “amicably without litigation,” it doesn’t seem as though Instagram’s parent company is backing down. In a response viewed by The Verge, Meta suggested that its descriptions are protected by fair use, arguing, “Meta has never claimed or implied that its Teen Account offerings are officially PG-13 rated or certified by the MPA — in fact, it has expressly stated the opposite.” In an October 14 blog post, Meta acknowledged that there are “of course” differences between social media and movies but explained that it wanted to align its policies with an “independent standard that parents are familiar with” and thus create the “Instagram equivalent of watching a PG-13 movie.” Now show us what the lawyers said about all of this on their “Close Friends” Story.
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