Instagram is introducing a major safety measure for younger users. On Monday, Meta announced the worldwide rollout of its AI-powered age-detection technology. The tool is designed to identify teenagers who misrepresent their age and automatically place them in more restrictive profiles known as “Teen Accounts”.
Many young users provide false adult birth dates while signing up to avoid age-related restrictions. Meta’s AI will now examine profiles for signs that users may actually be teenagers, even when their registered birthdays indicate otherwise.
How the AI estimates a user's age
Meta’s AI examines different parts of a user's profile to determine whether they might be under 18. It analyses posts, comments, biographies and captions for indicators such as references to school grades or birthday celebrations. The company also looks at visual clues in photos and videos, including a person's height and bone structure.
What changes with Teen Accounts?
When the AI identifies a user as a teenager, their account is automatically shifted to a more protected environment. Profiles are private by default, potentially harmful comments are filtered out, and direct messages are restricted to people the user already follows or is connected with.
Teen Accounts also include daily usage reminders that encourage users to leave the app after 60 minutes. Notifications are automatically silenced between 10 pm and 7 am to support better sleep. Users below 16 cannot disable these restrictions without explicit parental approval.
Why is Meta introducing the change now?
The worldwide expansion comes months after Meta agreed to significant settlements in August. The company reached agreements worth up to $18 billion with almost every US state and territory to resolve lawsuits filed by 52 bipartisan attorneys general, who alleged that its platforms were damaging teenagers.
In a recent blog post, Meta said it was strengthening its technology to identify accounts belonging to children under 13 and ensure older teenagers are placed in age-appropriate environments as part of these agreements. The company will also begin displaying an informational video within Instagram's feed for parents in the US to explain the new safety measures.
Coming to Facebook and Threads
The update will extend beyond Instagram. Meta confirmed that it is continuing to introduce the same AI-powered age-detection system on Facebook. It also plans to begin a similar worldwide rollout on Threads later this year.
