How to change sensitive-content settings on social media

All kinds of content can pop up on social media feeds. Some of it is perfectly innocent and family-friendly, but some of it can be explicit or sensitive in nature, and not all social media users may wish to see it.

That’s why most major social platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, have features to flag, filter, and block certain kinds of content. Often, these filters are enabled by default, but you might not necessarily want to leave them that way.

This guide looks at how to turn off sensitive content filtering on X, Instagram, and other social sites.

What is sensitive content on social media?

All of the major social media platforms have their own policies and definitions for sensitive content.

Meta, for example, which is the company that owns Instagram, considers the following to fall into the category of “sensitive content”:

• Violence
• Sexually suggestive or explicit imagery
• Promotion of products like tobacco, vaping, and drugs
• Promotion or depiction of cosmetic procedures
• Promotion of products/services that are based on health-related claims, i.e., dietary pills

TikTok, meanwhile, can block content containing:

• Profanity
• Sexually suggestive imagery
• Realistic violence
• Depictions of firearms or weapons
• Illegal or controlled substances
• Explicit references to mature/complex themes

On X, sensitive content refers to any content involving nudity, sexual behavior, graphic violence, gore, or animal abuse.

As you can see, platforms vary in their interpretations, but most of them agree that content that is violent or sexual in nature should be classified as “sensitive,” with systems in place to prevent younger users, in particular, from being able to access that content.

This is why, on most platforms, sensitive content filters are enabled by default for new accounts and especially on child accounts or for users who haven’t specified their age or date of birth. It helps to minimize the risk of users seeing content that they might find upsetting, disturbing, or simply unsuitable.

How to turn off sensitive content filters by platform

While some people prefer to keep sensitive content filters enabled, others want to turn them off so they don’t miss out on posts that might interest them and don’t have to keep clicking the “Show content” button to reveal potentially sensitive media.

Fortunately, all major platforms give users complete control to turn off filters and content limitations, though the process varies a little from one platform to the next. Here’s a look at how to turn off sensitive content on Instagram, X/Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.

How to turn off sensitive content on Instagram

Instagram has relatively strict content policies, with both automated algorithms and human moderators scanning posts and removing or blurring those that are deemed unsuitable or sensitive.

It also gives users control over how much sensitive content they can see, with options to see what is deemed a normal amount, less than normal, or more than normal. You can’t, however, opt out of sensitive content entirely.

To control how much sensitive content you see on Instagram, follow these easy steps:

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the Menu button (three horizontal lines).
   
2. In the Settings and activity menu, scroll down to find Content preferences.
   
3. Tap on Sensitive content.
   
4. Tap More to see sensitive content more often. You can also set it to Standard to see an average amount of this content. The Less option will restrict access and filter out most sensitive posts.
   

Note that you can also repeat this process to control how much political content you see, too. Just tap on Political content in the Content preferences menu and select whether you want to see more or less of it.

How to turn off sensitive content on X/Twitter

Twitter, or X as it is now known, also offers the ability to let users see sensitive posts and content without having to click any extra buttons to reveal the content in question. All you have to do is toggle a simple setting for your account.

The process to turn off sensitive content controls on X is almost identical on both the Android mobile app and the website, though it’s not an option on the iOS app, so iPhone/iPad users will need to use the website method.

Here are the instructions for the web version:

1. Open the X website and click More in the menu on the left.
   
2. Click on Settings and privacy.
   
3. Select the Privacy and safety option.
   
4. Click on Content you see.
   
5. Check the box next to Display media that may contain sensitive content.
   

How to disable safe search on X/Twitter

X also has a safe search feature, which is enabled by default. This hides sensitive posts from your searches, even if you’ve enabled sensitive content in the settings. You can disable this quite easily. To do so, follow the first four steps of the previous section to get to the Content you see page. Then:

1. Click on Search settings.
   
2. Uncheck the box labeled Hide sensitive content.
   

How to turn off restricted mode on YouTube

Restricted mode is a YouTube setting that helps users avoid seeing mature or sensitive content showing up in their recommended video lists and feeds. It works by looking at various elements of a video, like its title and metadata, in order to filter out content that might be seen as objectionable, mature, or sensitive.

You can easily turn this mode off and on, as needed, via the YouTube settings. Here’s how:

1. Go to the YouTube website and log in (if you haven’t already).
   
2. Click on your profile picture or icon and select Restricted Mode: On.
   
3. Toggle the Activate Restricted Mode switch to the off position.
   

How to turn off restricted mode on TikTok

Similar to YouTube, TikTok, too, has a Restricted Mode. You can turn it on or off as follows:

1. Open the TikTok app and tap on the Profile button in the bottom-right corner.
   
2. On your Profile page, tap the Menu button in the top right, represented by three horizontal lines.
   
3. Select Settings and privacy.
   
4. Scroll down and tap on Content preferences.
   
5. Tap on Restricted Mode.
   
6. Tap to Turn off Restricted Mode.
   

Adjusting TikTok content preferences

TikTok also gives users control over their content preferences, which can help you see more or less of certain kinds of content, tailoring your feed to match your tastes. Here’s how it works:

1. Follow steps 1–4 from the guide above until you get to the Content preferences menu. Then, tap Manage topics.
   
2. You’ll see a series of sliders associated with different kinds of content, like Health & Fitness or Pets. Adjust each slider left or right to see more or less of that type of content, respectively. Remember to tap the Save button in the top-right corner to confirm your changes.
   

Troubleshooting and common issues

Usually, it’s quite quick and easy to turn off sensitive content filters on all major social media sites. However, for various reasons, you might encounter some issues when doing this. Here are some common problems and solutions.

Why can’t I see the option to turn off sensitive content?

If you can’t see the option to disable sensitive content, it’s likely that your account is classed as a child/minor account. On platforms like Instagram, for example, users aged between 13 and 17 do not get the option to adjust sensitive content preferences, and it’s a similar story on other social media sites, too.

If you’re an adult, you might have entered the wrong age or date of birth when you created your account. You can usually edit this in the account settings and then gain access to the sensitive content features. For those who are underage and using child accounts, you might require your parents’ permission before making any changes to your account and content settings.

My settings keep reverting; what can I do?

Some users have reported issues where they change the sensitive content settings on platforms like X and Instagram, but their changes fail to save the next time they log on. This might be due to technical issues, bugs, or simple user error. Some solutions to try include:

• Follow the steps to turn sensitive content off carefully, making sure to click “Save” or confirm your changes, if possible.
• If you’re on mobile, make sure your social media apps are fully up to date with the latest versions.
• Try logging out and back into the platforms and refreshing the page to see if the settings correct themselves.
• If the problem persists, contact the social media support teams on your platform of choice to see if they can help you.

Posting sensitive content? Here’s how to enable warnings

If you’re planning on posting potentially sensitive content to your own social feed, you may want to warn other users to minimize the risks of anyone getting offended or upset.

Many platforms, such as Instagram, have smart algorithms that will scan your posts and automatically determine if the content falls into the “sensitive” category. So you don’t necessarily need to make warnings manually.

You can, however, choose to display a special warning message on your posts as an extra layer of precaution for other users on some platforms.

X, for example, allows users to manually mark their posts as sensitive, which can be helpful if you plan on posting content that could be seen as mature or sensitive in the eyes of certain users. The company recommends that users who regularly post this kind of content adjust their profile settings accordingly to flag their posts as sensitive.

To do this, follow steps 1–3 outlined in the section about turning off sensitive content filters on X until you reach the Privacy and safety settings page. Then:

1. Click on Your posts.
   
2. Check the box labeled Mark media you post as having material that may be sensitive.