Meta Expands AI Use to Determine Age in Teen Instagram Accounts
More Instagram users will receive protection for teen accounts, even if they provided an adult birth date during registration. The technology is also being rolled out on Facebook, with plans to introduce it on Threads later.
Meta is globally expanding its AI-based system that assesses the age of Instagram users. If the algorithms suggest the user is between 13 and 17 years old, their account is switched to a teen account, even if an adult birth date was provided during registration.
Such accounts restrict the circle of people who can send messages to the teen, and posts and profiles are set to private by default. They also include daily app time limits and parental control tools. Previously, Meta applied this technology in the U.S., the European Union, and Brazil.
In the U.S., parents will begin receiving notifications on Instagram explaining how the company determines that an account belongs to a teen. Meta continues to deploy the system on Facebook and plans to launch a similar mechanism on Threads later this year.
In Australia, the company has additionally started using Apple’s age signal. When setting up a smartphone, a parent can allow the app store to determine the user’s age range, after which this signal is shared with developers when downloading an app. Meta considers this unified method more effective and privacy-preserving than separate age verification by each platform.
The expansion is also linked to Meta’s agreement with 52 attorneys general from U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia. The company stated that it is enhancing technologies to detect accounts of children under 13 and teenage users, and called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures.
