Systems and methods are disclosed for restricting access to content elements with content ratings. In one method, the content distributor can receive a request from a device to access a set of content elements. The content distributor can then identify at least a content descriptor and a content rating for each content element within the set of content elements, identify a range within the content ratings, and identify content elements with content ratings that are within the range. The content distributor can transmit at least the content descriptors for content elements having content ratings that are within the range to the device for display on the device. This permits a device user to access the content elements by content descriptor. In this method, at least some content descriptors for content elements having content ratings that are outside of the range are not transmitted to the device.