Meta is rolling out its artificial intelligence age-estimation technology worldwide to place more Instagram users into protective teen accounts. The system targets users who may have entered an adult birthdate during registration, automatically moving anyone identified as being between 13 and 17 years old into the restricted category.
Protective Measures and Parental Controls
Teen accounts include strict safeguards designed to protect young users, such as blocking direct messages from unknown accounts and setting profiles and posts to private by default. These accounts also feature daily application time restrictions alongside built-in parental oversight tools. Meta stated it will soon notify parents in the United States via Instagram to explain the mechanism behind these account placements.
Detection Methods and Platform Expansion
To determine user ages, the company relies on analyzing facial bone structures from photos and scanning user text for mentions of school grades or birthday parties. In Australia, the platform is incorporating Apple’s age-range system as an additional verification signal, aligning with Meta’s advocacy for app store responsibility in age verification. Alongside Instagram, Meta is actively expanding this age-estimation technology to Facebook and intends to integrate the system into Threads later in the year.
The company previously entered a settlement agreement potentially reaching $18 billion with 52 attorneys general following a lawsuit concerning youth harm on its platforms. Within that legal resolution, Meta committed to investing in advanced technology designed to proactively identify accounts operated by children under 13 and accurately detect users between the ages of 13 and 17.
