Meta is expanding AI-powered age detection across Instagram and Facebook to identify teenage users and automatically activate additional safety protections.
Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) technology to identify underage users on Instagram and Facebook, even when their registered dates of birth indicate that they are 18 or older.
The company announced the global expansion of the technology on Monday, aiming to identify teenagers who may have bypassed existing age restrictions by entering inaccurate birth dates when creating their accounts.
Instead of relying exclusively on information provided during registration, Instagram’s AI-powered system examines multiple signals from users’ activity to estimate whether an account belongs to someone under 18.
Accounts identified as belonging to teenagers will automatically be placed in Instagram’s Teen Accounts category. The classification activates additional safety measures designed to provide younger users with a more protected online experience.
These safeguards include restrictions on who can contact teenagers, limitations on potentially harmful content and enhanced parental supervision options. Users aged 16 and younger must also obtain parental approval to change certain safety settings.
Meta clarified that identifying someone as under 18 does not automatically result in an account ban. The company operates a separate system to detect and remove accounts belonging to children younger than 13, the platform’s minimum age requirement.
In the United States, parents are expected to receive notifications during November explaining how Instagram’s age-detection technology works and how the system identifies younger users.
Meta is also using Apple’s age-range information in Australia as an additional method of identifying teenagers. This provides another source of information to help the company determine whether users fall within a younger age group.
The expansion comes as social media companies face increasing legal and public scrutiny over their impact on children’s safety and well-being.
Meta has faced lawsuits alleging that its platforms contributed to mental health problems among young people. The company has also agreed to multibillion-dollar settlements in related cases.
Although Meta has rejected allegations that it deliberately harmed children, it has continued introducing additional measures aimed at strengthening protections for younger users.
The AI-based age-detection technology is also being introduced on Facebook, while a similar expansion to Threads is planned for later this year.
Meta has also called on other major social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube, to introduce comparable safeguards for younger audiences.
The latest development reflects the growing role of AI in identifying potentially underage users and enforcing age-appropriate safety settings across social media platforms.
About The Author
