Meta says it will expand automated age-estimation technology worldwide on Instagram this month, using artificial intelligence to identify suspected teenagers even when their accounts list an adult birthday, Al Jazeera reported Monday.

Accounts identified as belonging to teens will be placed under Teen Account protections, which restrict contact, content and time spent on the platform. Meta said it plans to extend the technology to Facebook and Threads later this year.

“We use AI technology to find people we suspect to be teens, even if they use an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account protections,” the company said in an announcement quoted by Al Jazeera.

The system analyses users’ behaviour and posts to estimate their age. Meta has tested it in countries including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The expansion is intended to identify teenagers who bypass age-based restrictions by entering a false date of birth.

Meta said U.S. parents who have set up Instagram for teenagers will receive notifications about the measures this month.

The rollout comes amid legal pressure over the effects of social media on children. According to Al Jazeera, U.S. state attorneys general have accused Meta’s platforms of encouraging addictive behaviour, failing to verify ages and inadequately protecting young users from harmful content. Meta agreed to improve its identification of minors as part of a settlement.

In its announcement, the company also urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar practices, saying Instagram is only one of the apps teenagers use.

Sources