“Instagram Reality”: 80 Edited Photos That Prove You Shouldn’t Trust What You See (New Pics)

Austria is in the process of following in Australia’s footsteps. Austria announced a bill to ban social media for kids under the age of 14 in March 2026.

That same month, Brazil’s social media ban for children under 16 came into effect that same month. The ban imposes limits on social media platforms, pressuring them to limit “features designed to artificially increase, sustain, or extend” the time kids spend on the platforms.

Canada is also getting ready to ban young children from having social media accounts. Indonesia is doing the same. Meanwhile, Malaysia has already enforced the ban in 2026.

Turkey passed a bill in April 2026 blocking children under 15 from accessing social media platforms. And in the United Kingdom, a social media ban for children under 16 is impending, set to follow the Australian model.

France is ready to approve its social media ban for kids under 15. When the ban is officially enforced, France will become the first European Union country to do this.

Meanwhile, a European Union-wide social media ban for kids under 13 could be coming soon, and might even affect other digital services like AI companions, video-sharing platforms, and video games.

The ‘Instagram Reality’ online community has been “exposing edited photos and showing the truth behind them” for nearly a decade, since November 2017.

While the group does call out the practice of obsessively and excessively editing and filtering social media photos, the moderators emphasize that this is not personal. As such, nobody posting the pics online is allowed to reveal any identifying information.

What’s being judged is the underlying problem with unhealthy social media use, not the specific individuals.

What has your relationship with social media, photos, filters, endless scrolling, and posting looked like over the years?

What are the most egregious and dishonest examples of photo-editing that you’ve recently seen in your social media feeds?

From your perspective, what’s the secret to having a genuinely healthy relationship with the internet, social media, and posting photos in public online?