Instagram to use AI to detect teens hiding their age, tighten account restrictions
Meta expands AI age checks worldwide to protect teens who sign up as adults
Dubai: Teenagers who enter a false date of birth to bypass Instagram's age restrictions could now be identified by artificial intelligence (AI) and automatically placed under stricter safety settings.
Meta announced on Monday, November 9, that it is expanding its AI-powered age-detection technology globally, allowing Instagram to identify users it suspects are under 18, even if they registered with an adult birthday.
The move means millions more teenagers worldwide could be placed into Instagram's Teen Accounts, which restrict who can contact them, the content they see and the amount of time they spend on the platform.
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How will Instagram detect teenagers using a false age?
One of the biggest challenges for social media platforms is verifying users' ages, particularly when children and teenagers enter an incorrect date of birth to access features intended for adults.
To address this, Meta uses AI technology to identify accounts it suspects belong to teenagers, even when the registered date of birth suggests otherwise.
If an account is identified as belonging to a teenager, Meta can automatically apply Teen Account protections rather than relying solely on the age provided during registration.
The company said the technology has already helped place more teenagers under age-appropriate protections, prompting its decision to expand the system worldwide.
What restrictions will apply to Teen Accounts?
Instagram's Teen Accounts come with built-in safety settings designed to limit potentially unwanted interactions and exposure to inappropriate content.
These include:
Contact restrictions: Limits on who can contact teenagers through the platform.
Content restrictions: Settings that limit the type of content younger users can see.
Time management: Built-in features designed to help teenagers manage the time they spend on social media.
These protections are automatically applied to Teen Accounts, reducing the need for teenagers or their parents to activate individual safety settings.
Will the changes also apply to Facebook and Threads?
Meta is continuing to roll out this technology on Facebook and, later this year, will begin launching similar technology globally on Threads.
The expansion is part of Meta's efforts to address the challenge of teenagers bypassing age restrictions across its social media platforms.
For parents, the change means teenagers may receive additional safeguards even if they have provided an incorrect age when creating their accounts.
