Meta says it is expanding its AI age detection worldwide on Instagram. The technology places users it suspects are teens into Teen Accounts even if they entered an adult birthday. The company says millions more teens will receive the protections as a result.
Teen Accounts limit who can contact teens, the content they see and their time on Meta’s apps. Meta says it is strengthening its technology for identifying accounts that may belong to people ages 13 to 17 so it can apply those protections when an account has an adult birthday.
The expansion follows Meta’s agreement with 52 bipartisan attorneys general across United States states, territories and the District of Columbia. Meta says it is also investing in technology to identify accounts that may belong to children under 13.
Meta uses Apple age signals in Australia
In Australia, Meta says it has begun using Apple’s age-range signal as another way to understand a user’s age. Parents can choose to have the app store assign an age range when setting up a teen’s smartphone. Apple shares that range with Meta when the teen downloads an app, indicating whether the teen meets its age requirement.
Parents in the United States will begin seeing an Instagram video in their feeds this month explaining Meta’s approach to age protections. It will link to an article by Larry Magid, president and CEO of ConnectSafely. Meta says the article is available to parents worldwide.
Age detection expands to Facebook and Threads
Meta says it is continuing to roll out the age-detection technology on Facebook. It plans to begin launching similar technology globally on Threads later this year.
