Instagram Expands AI-Powered Age Verification Worldwide to Protect Teen Users

Meta Platforms announced the expansion of its AI-powered age estimation technology for Instagram to global markets on Tuesday. As per the social media giant, its capability is aimed at identifying teenage users on Instagram, even when they have entered an adult date of birth while creating an account. The company is also stepping up its communication with parents, courtesy of which users in the US will begin receiving Instagram notifications explaining how the technology works later this month.

Instagram Expands AI Age Estimation Globally

In a blog post, Meta said its AI technology is part of its efforts to create age-appropriate experiences across its social media platforms. It will enable the company to identify users it suspects are teenagers, even if they have provided an adult birthday on Instagram. Instead of relying entirely on the age information users provide during sign-up, the system is claimed to be capable of placing such accounts under Teen Account protections automatically.

Teen Accounts on Instagram have several built-in restrictions intended to create a safer experience for younger users. These include limits on who can contact them, age-appropriate content recommendations, and default time management tools. Meta says such protections are designed for users aged 13 to 17, and it also uses technology to identify and block accounts belonging to children under 13.

For parents in the US, Meta said Instagram will begin showing an in-feed video later this month explaining how it identifies teenage accounts and applies the relevant protections. The video will link to an article written by internet safety advocate Larry Magid, President and CEO of ConnectSafely. As per the company, the article outlines Meta's multi-layered approach to age assurance, including efforts to keep children under 13 off its platforms, provide age-appropriate experiences to teenagers, and help parents ensure their children enter the correct age when signing up.

Apart from this, the social media giant revealed that it has begun using Apple's age-range signal in Australia as another way to determine whether a user meets an app's age requirements. Under this system, parents setting up a smartphone for their child can allow the app store to confirm the user's age range. That information can then be shared with app developers when the user downloads an app.

Meta said that it is voluntarily using the signal, but noted that the system remains optional for both app stores and developers. The company argues that a consistent, verified age signal shared across apps would offer more reliable and privacy-preserving protections than requiring every platform to independently verify users' ages.