Instagram will start identifying teen accounts using AI — it won’t be possible to fool the system

Meta✴ will begin to more strictly control teenagers’ Instagram✴ accounts using artificial intelligence (AI). In some cases, the social network will automatically change account settings to identify minors if it suspects that the user has overstated their age, The Verge reports.

Image source: Luke van Zyl / Unsplash

Since 2024, Instagram✴ has been using AI to analyze indirect signs of age, such as congratulations on turning 16 in private messages. The system also takes into account behavioral data, since all teenagers tend to interact with content in a similar way. At the same time, the accounts of users under 18 are private by default, and strangers cannot send them private messages. In addition, such profiles have restrictions on the display of certain content.

Now Meta✴ will begin to more actively identify cases where minors indicate a false age in their profile. If the AI ​​determines that the account belongs to a child, Instagram✴ will automatically switch it to restricted mode. However, the company admits that the system can make mistakes, so it left the option to manually return to the previous settings.

Image source: Facebook✴

It is noted that these measures are part of a gradual tightening of Meta✴’s child protection policy, especially since the European Union has previously begun an investigation into whether the company is doing enough to ensure the safety of young users. The reason for this was reports of harassment of minors on the social network, which even led to lawsuits in the United States.

Meanwhile, there is no unity among major tech companies on the issue of responsibility for children’s safety on the Internet. In March, Google accused Meta✴ of trying to shift its responsibilities to app stores after the passage of a law in the US state of Utah prohibiting people under 18 from using social networks in the evening (from 10:30 p.m.) and at night without parental permission. Snap and X were also drawn into this dispute.

In general, experts note that tightening control over the age of users is a forced measure against the backdrop of growing pressure from regulators and the public. At the same time, it is unclear how accurately AI will be able to determine real age, and whether this will lead to inconvenience for ordinary users. Testing of the new function begins in the United States.