Meta deploys AI to detect underage users

Meta has expanded the global deployment of its artificial intelligence technology to identify teenagers who misrepresent their ages on its platforms and automatically place them under additional safety protections.

The technology is designed to detect users suspected of being teenagers, even when they register with adult dates of birth, as the social media company seeks to extend age-appropriate safeguards to millions more young people worldwide.

The company said in an email on Monday that the expansion would initially increase the number of teenagers receiving built-in protections on Instagram, with similar technology being rolled out on Facebook and later on Threads.

The parent company of Facebook said the move was designed to tackle cases of teenagers falsifying their dates of birth to gain access to online content and services meant for adults.

It explained that ensuring young users received appropriate protections depended on accurately determining their ages, a challenge it described as an industry-wide concern.

According to the company, its artificial intelligence systems analyse information to identify accounts that may belong to teenagers, regardless of the birth dates provided during registration.

The technology then places suspected teenage users in Teen Accounts, which automatically restrict who can contact them, the content they can access and the amount of time they spend on the platforms.

Meta said its experience with the technology since its introduction had encouraged it to expand the system globally.

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The company added that millions more teenagers using Instagram across different countries would now receive the protections, including those who had registered with adult birth dates.

For parents, Meta said the expansion would provide greater assurance that the company was taking proactive steps to protect teenagers online, irrespective of where they lived.

The development builds on Meta’s Teen Accounts, introduced to provide age-appropriate experiences for young users across its platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

Under the initiative, teenagers are automatically placed under restrictions designed to limit unwanted contact, exposure to potentially inappropriate content and excessive time spent on the applications.

Meta said the age-detection technology would be progressively introduced on Facebook, with its worldwide rollout on Threads scheduled to commence later this year.