Instagram Now Uses Age Estimation Technology to Detect Teen Accounts Globally

Meta announced today that it’s expanding its age-estimation technology to detect teenagers on Instagram who may be lying about their age worldwide. The global expansion follows Meta’s recent agreement with a bipartisan group of attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia to settle a lawsuit alleging that its platforms are detrimental to the mental health of teenagers.

Meta’s age assurance technology was previously implemented on Instagram in the US, the UK, the EU, and Brazil earlier this year. The tech uses visual analysis and other signals, such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades, to place teens who use an adult birthday to set up an account in Teen Account protections. The age-appropriate protections limit who can contact teens on Instagram, as well as what they see and the time they can spend in the app.

“Since first introducing this technology, we’ve been placing more teens in age-appropriate protections and are encouraged by the results,” Meta said today. In Australia, the company will also start using Apple’s age-range signal as an additional method to understand the age of Instagram users. This is an optional feature that parents can use to indicate the age of the person using the device when they set up an iPhone.

Meta said today that later this month, parents in the US who are using Instagram will see a notification with a video explaining the company’s work on Teen accounts. The video will also detail how parents can ensure that their teens are getting age-appropriate protections on the platform.

“We’re continuing to roll this technology out on Facebook and, later this year, we’ll begin launching similar technology globally on Threads,” Meta said today. The company added that it’s developing “even stronger technology to proactively catch accounts that may belong to children under 13.”