Meta announced on Monday that it is leveraging artificial intelligence technology to detect teenagers on Instagram who deliberately misrepresent their age in an effort to bypass protective features. According to the company’s statement, AI systems will automatically flag accounts suspected of belonging to younger users, enrolling them into what Instagram calls a “Teen Account” with restricted capabilities, even if their listed birthdate indicates they are adults.
Instagram launched these special Teen Accounts last year, designed specifically to enhance safety measures for younger users. The restrictions limit who can contact the teens and control the types of content they can access. For teenagers under 16, altering these protective settings requires parental consent.
Although Instagram has been utilizing AI-based age detection technology for some time, company officials confirmed this latest measure aims to ensure younger users cannot easily evade the safeguards by falsely listing their age. Meta initially shared plans for this enhanced detection effort last year, highlighting strategies such as analyzing birthday celebration posts and investigating user reports to identify profiles with incorrect age data.
In its latest announcement, Instagram emphasized ongoing efforts to maintain the reliability and precision of its AI technology. Should the AI mistakenly place users into a Teen Account, individuals will be given the ability to correct their settings.
“The digital world continues to evolve, and we must evolve along with it,” Instagram explained. “It’s crucial to collaborate with parents to make certain that as many teenagers as possible benefit from the protective settings provided by Teen Accounts.”
As part of this initiative, Instagram will begin notifying parents directly, providing guidance on how to talk with their children about accurately stating their age online. The platform noted that parents could greatly enhance their children’s protection by verifying the accuracy of birth dates listed on their profiles.
This announcement follows closely on the heels of Meta rolling out similar Teen Account features to Facebook and Messenger earlier this month. Meta reports that globally, at least 54 million teen users have already been enrolled in Teen Accounts, with 97% of users between 13 and 15 remaining within these enhanced safeguards.
