Instagram Deploys AI to Detect and Restrict Teen Accounts Masquerading as Adults

Instagram is using AI to find teens lying about their age and restricting their accounts

Meta is using AI technology to search for kids who are lying about their age on Instagram in order to bypass safeguards, the company announced on Monday. When Meta finds an account that it suspects belongs to a teen, the platform will enroll them into a restricted Teen Account, even if the account lists an adult birthday. Teen Accounts, which launched on Instagram last year, enroll young users into an app experience with built-in protections. The safeguards are applied to teens automatically, and limit who can contact a teen on the app and restrict the type of content the account holder can view. Teens under the age of 16 need their parents' permission to change any of these settings. Instagram has been using AI to determine age for quite some time, but now the social network confirms it's using the technology to ensure that teens are accessing Instagram via a Teen Account rather than an adult one. The company told TechCrunch last year that it had planned to do this, and noted that some of the ways it would find accounts that belong to teens who entered a fake adult birthday is by detecting happy birthday posts and receiving reports from other users. Instagram says that it's taking steps to ensure that its technology is accurate and that it's correctly placing teens into Teen Accounts. However, in case the company does make a mistake, it's giving people the option to change their settings. "The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it," the company wrote in its blog post. "That's why it's important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Accounts." Instagram also announced that it's going to begin sending notifications to parents that include information about how they can discuss the importance of providing the correct age online with their teens. The platform notes that one of the most important ways parents can make sure their teens are in protected accounts is to check if their account lists their correct birthday. Today's announcement comes two weeks after Meta introduced Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger. Meta says it has enrolled at least 54 million teens into Teen Accounts globally so far, and that 97% of teens ages 13-15 have remained in these protected accounts.

Meta Will Use AI to Place Teens Into Stricter Account Settings

Meta is expanding its age verification tools by using AI to detect teen accounts and then automatically placing them into more restrictive Teen Account settings even if the user listed an adult birthday. The company said in a blog post on Monday that it will proactively identify accounts it suspects belong to teens and move them into these stricter settings. It acknowledged the system may make mistakes, and users will have the ability to adjust their settings back if needed. "We've been using artificial intelligence to determine age for some time, but leveraging it in this way is a big change," the company said in the blog post. This move is part of a broader effort by Meta and other social media platforms to better protect young users amid growing pressure from parents and lawmakers who argue that tech companies aren't doing enough to safeguard the safety and mental health of teens. Instagram Teen Accounts, which launched last year, include built-in protections that limit who can contact teens, what content they can see and how long they can spend on the platform. Last year, the company automatically enabled these safety features for all teen users, requiring parental or guardian approval for anyone under 16 to make changes. The company said about 97% of users under 16 keeping these protections in place. It also recently extended the Teen Account experience to Facebook and Messenger. Meta also said it will begin sending notifications to Instagram parents with information about why it's important to talk with their teens about providing accurate age information online. "Understanding the age of people online is an industry-wide challenge. We'll continue our efforts to help ensure teens are placed in age-appropriate online experiences, like Teen Accounts, but the most effective way to understand age is by obtaining parental approval and verifying age on the app store," it added.

Meta is ramping up its AI-driven age detection

Mia Sato is platforms and communities reporter with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools. Meta is expanding how it uses AI to detect teens on Instagram -- and, in some cases, will begin overriding account settings. Instagram announced it was using AI for age detection in 2024; the system looked for signals that users were under 18 years old, like if messages from friends say "happy 16th birthday," for example (Meta also says it uses engagement data -- people in the same age group often interact with content they see in similar ways). Teen accounts on Instagram are subject to more restrictive settings: by default, teen accounts are private, strangers aren't able to send them messages, and Instagram limits what kind of content teens see. Last year, Instagram changed the settings for all teens on the platform so that safety features were automatically enabled. The company now says it will use AI to proactively look for teen accounts that have an adult birthday, and change settings for users it suspects are kids. In a blog post, Instagram says it will begin testing the feature today in the US. If it detects that a user is actually a child but the account says otherwise, Instagram will automatically place it under the more restrictive teen settings. Instagram acknowledges the possibility that the system will make errors -- the company says users will have the ability to change their settings back. Meta has gradually offered more settings that it says will protect teens and kids on the platform, often in response to concerns from parents and lawmakers. Last year, the European Union launched an investigation into whether Meta was doing enough to protect the health of young users. Disturbing reporting into predators on Instagram targeting kids prompted a lawsuit by a US state attorney general. There's also disagreement among tech companies -- namely Google versus Meta, Snap, and X -- over who should be responsible for keeping kids safe online. In March, Google accused Meta of trying to "offload" its responsibility onto app stores following the passage of a bill in Utah.

How Instagram is using AI to uncover teen accounts lying about their age

If your teen has a fake birthday on their Instagram profile to get around age restriction policies, their days of beating the system may soon be over. In a blog post, Instagram says that starting today it will use AI to detect users lying about their age and automatically move those accounts to one of the limited teen accounts that debuted last fall. Meta offered several examples. First, it will monitor which profiles and content an account interacts with. Since people in the same age range generally enjoy similar content and interact with each other, if a non‑teen account interacts heavily with teen accounts and teen‑related content, Meta may flag that account. Also: The top 20 AI tools of 2025 - and the #1 thing to remember when you use them Second, Meta will review what it calls "strong signals of age," or things like birthday messages -- for example, if another user posts something like "Screaming happy 15th birthday to my best friend." The company has used AI to determine age for a while, but what's new is how it uses that information. Meta will leave an internal note on these flagged accounts for further investigation. If Meta finds that an account is actually a teen in hiding, that account will get the same limitations as other teen accounts -- they're private by default, they cannot receive messages from strangers, and the platform limits the content they can see. Instagram says it is aware that errors may occur, and if an account is mistakenly placed in the teen category, the user can verify their age to move it back. Also: How Meta's new teen accounts aim to keep your kids safer on Facebook Also starting today, the platform will message parents of teen accounts with information on how to discuss the importance of providing a correct age online, and how parents can check to ensure their children are truthful about their age online. Get the morning's top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.

Meta's AI Will Poke Around Profiles in Age-Verification Crackdown

Meta is stepping up its efforts to lock Instagram users under the age of 16 into Teen Accounts. Starting today, Meta will expand its use of AI to "proactively" find accounts it suspects belong to teens and place them under Teen Account restrictions. The company will also begin notifying parents with "information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online." Meta didn't specify what new signals it will look at to improve its age-detection tech. The company's existing evaluation dataset looks at key signals such as birthday posts and the accounts with which profiles interact. For example, if someone falsely signs up as an adult, but their friends happen to create posts wishing them a "happy 15th birthday," Meta's internal evaluation team will label the user as a teen and leave a note for further investigation. The latest development follows the expansion of Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger earlier this month. In that announcement, Meta had mentioned testing a method wherein suspected teens will be placed under Teen Accounts, regardless of their provided birthdates. This was after the company admitted last month that its age-verification tech hadn't performed as well as it hoped to. Launched in September, Teen Accounts are automatically assigned to all users under the age of 16. They are private by default and come with built-in restrictions for sensitive content, messaging, tagging, live posts, and time limits. These accounts also allow parents to set custom time limits and see the people and topics their kids interact with. To modify most settings, kids need parental consent. Discord has also started testing stricter measures to ensure kids view age-appropriate content. If the platform's sensitive media filter blurs content for a user in the UK or Australia, they'll be required to verify their age by completing a facial scan or submitting an ID. The platform is also facing a lawsuit from the state of New Jersey over its alleged failure to protect children.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Meta is using its AI age-detection tech to shuffle more young users into teen accounts

Meta says it's doing more to make sure as many of its younger users as possible are using the that it has rolled out for Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. Starting today, it's testing artificial intelligence tech in the US to detect whether a person is a teen -- even if they've lied about their birthday to make it seem like they're an adult -- and then move them to a teen account. The company says it has taken steps to make sure that the age-detection tech is accurate, but in case it makes a mistake, users that the AI suspects of being a teen have the option to change their settings and stick with an adult account. While Meta has been using AI for age detection for a while, it says employing the tech in this way is a "big change." Meta debuted teen accounts in Instagram last fall and recently . Teen accounts have stricter privacy settings and parental controls. These accounts are, for instance, automatically set to private and prevent teen users from messaging strangers. The company says it has enrolled more than 54 million teens into such accounts and that 97 percent of users aged between 13 and 15 have chosen to keep them enabled (under 16s need permission from their parents or guardians to opt out of teen accounts). The company adds that over 90 percent of the parents it has surveyed agree that teen accounts have helped keep their kids safe on Instagram. Also starting today, Meta says it will send parents on Instagram a notification about resources they can use to talk to their teens about why it's important to have the correct age on their profiles so they can be enrolled in teen accounts. Meta says it's working on other ways to ensure users have age-appropriate experiences, such as to require app stores to seek parental permission whenever an under-16 wants to download an app.

Instagram will use AI to identify teens using adult accounts

Instagram is using AI to proactively find teens using accounts with adult birthdates. Credit: Jeffrey Hazelwood / Ian Moore / Mashable Composite; Instagram It's an open secret that some teens circumvent social media platform age restrictions by simply giving the wrong birth date when they sign up. Now Instagram will use artificial intelligence in order to identify those users and route them back into age-appropriate "teen accounts," according to an Instagram blog post published Monday. Instagram already uses AI to determine age, but the platform will begin testing the technology's ability to proactively find teens on accounts with an adult birthday listed. Instagram will then place them in its teen account settings, which have a number of safety features. Recently, Instagram began restricting teens under 16 from going live. It also now requires teens to obtain parental consent before they can turn off content moderation filters designed to blur nude images in direct messages. Though Instagram said it's working to ensure the accuracy of its AI technology, it is giving users the option to change the restrictiveness of teen account settings should it make a mistake about their age. Instagram also announced that it will begin sending notifications to parents who have an Instagram account about how they can discuss with their children why it's important to provide their correct age to the platform. Meta, Instagram's parent company, has been sued by plaintiffs, including the state of California, who argue that the company hasn't sufficiently protected minors from harm, or warned them of potential dangers related to using Facebook and Instagram. Instagram said that the platform has enrolled at least 54 million teens across the world into teen accounts. The vast majority of teens ages 13 through 15 opted to keep that setting, according to the company. "The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it," Instagram said in its blog post. "That's why it's important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Accounts."

Instagram will use AI to catch teens using adult accounts

Meta, Instagram's parent company, announced the start of Teen Accounts in September, saying they would provide "built-in protections for teens" and "peace of mind for parents." Teen accounts are private by default and include restrictions on who teens can message. They also have tighter sensitive content restrictions, limits on tagging and mentions, and time controls. Teens under 16 need parental approval to make changes to their settings. Instagram is now expanding the effort to get more teens to use the accounts. "Starting today, we'll begin sending notifications to parents on Instagram with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," Instagram said in a statement Monday. The social media giant said it will use AI to try to find "accounts we suspect belong to teens, even if the account lists an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account settings." Instagram said it has enrolled at least 54 million teens in the accounts and 97% of those teens ages 13 to 15 have kept the protective settings. Meta has launched a slew of initiatives over the last few years in an effort to protect teens and kids from sexual predators, following reports of rampant child trafficking on its platforms and scrutiny over the impacts of its platforms on youth mental health. In April, Meta announced a new "nudity protection" feature for direct messages that automatically blurs nudes sent and received by teens under 18 to help protect children from predators. The company was heavily criticized over its use of encryption technology for Facebook and Instagram direct messages -- something insiders said helped predators, not victims.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Instagram is ramping up AI-powered age detection on teen users

The days of teenagers lying about their age on Instagram are over. Meta has announced that they're using AI-powered age detection technology to enroll teens suspected of misrepresenting their age to a restricted Teen Account. Instagram's parent company announced the AI-driven crackdown on teen Instagram users in a blog post on Monday, saying that it's leveraging its AI, which it has been using to detect the age ranges of many of its users for some time, to detect accounts it suspects belong to teenagers who lied about their age to bypass safeguards, even if they have an adult birthday listed. Instagram said it is taking steps to ensure the AI is accurate and will correctly place teen users into Teen Accounts, but will give users an option to change their settings if their account has been placed into a Teen Account by mistake. Recommended Videos In addition to using AI for age detection, Instagram said it will begin sending notifications to parents of teen users with information on talking to their kids about the importance of listing the correct age on their social media accounts. Parents will need an Instagram account of their own in order to receive those notifications, which will go out effective immediately. "The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it," Meta said. "That's why it's important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Accounts." Teen Accounts were introduced on Instagram last year in order to make the platform safer for teens under 16 by limiting their exposure to sensitive content, including violent images and Reels that promote cosmetic procedures, and restricting who can contact them. Other safeguards that have been built into the Teen Accounts include making their accounts private by default, only receiving messages and tags by people they follow, receiving a notification to take a break after scrolling on Instagram for 60 minutes.

Instagram tests AI to catch underage users as part of teen safety push

As scrutiny grows over social media's impact on teens, Instagram is ramping up safety tools. New AI systems will flag underage users who misrepresent their age when signing up. Instagram is testing the use of AI to flag underage users who lie about their age, as part of new measures to better protect teens online, parent company Meta said Monday. The platform will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to underage users, even if those users entered a false birthdate when signing up. The app has used AI to estimate users' ages in the past, but the new approach represents a more aggressive strategy. Meta says it trains its AI to detect signals - like account activity, profile details and content interactions - to flag users who may have misrepresented their age. If Instagram determines that a user has lied about their real age, the account will be reclassified into the teen category. This comes with stricter privacy and safety settings. Teen accounts are private by default. Messaging is limited to people the user already follows or is connected with. Content deemed "sensitive" - such as violent videos or posts promoting cosmetic procedures - will be restricted, Meta said. Teen users will receive time-limit notifications after 60 minutes of use. A "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10pm to 7am. Instagram will also begin sending notifications to parents, encouraging conversations with their teens about the importance of providing accurate age information online, according to Meta. The update comes as tech companies face increased scrutiny over the impact of social media on young users' mental health. Several US states are also advancing legislation to require age verification on social platforms, though many of these efforts have faced legal challenges. Meta and other tech firms have argued that app stores, not individual platforms, should bear responsibility for verifying users' ages.

Instagram Is Using AI to Automatically Enroll Minors Into 'Teen Accounts'

Meta is getting serious about the teens who use its services. Last year, the company rolled out "Teen Accounts" for Instagram, which add a number of restrictions, limitations, and features for users under the age of 18. Earlier this month, Meta rolled out Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger as well, and expanded some of those restrictions on Instagram specifically. If your teen had a standard Instagram account when Meta started rolling this out, their account was automatically changed into a Teen Account. Of course, that only worked if they had their real age attached to the account: If a teen said their birthday made them 18 or older, no Teen Account for them. In response to this loophole, Meta is tasking its AI with rooting out teens purporting to be adults on Instagram. The company announced the experiment on Monday, revealing that tests will begin in the United States that same day. Meta is brief on the details here, but they do say that if the AI finds a standard account it suspects to be a teen, it will automatically switch them to a Teen Account -- even if that account has an adult birthday. This also isn't Meta AI's first rodeo. The company has used an AI model trained to identify whether a user is underage since 2022. The AI model looks for behaviors associated with teen users, as, according to Meta, people in the same age group react similarly to specific types of content. (Think about all those memes you don't understand.) One interesting "tell" comes with birthday posts: The AI looks at how users interact with an account on their birthday, and can make a determination from there. If the AI is seeing a lot of "happy 17th birthday" posts and DMs, that's going to be quite obvious, but even if the messages track with how users under 18 tend to wish each other a happy birthday, the AI will get suspicious fast. There are probably many parents out there that have no issue with Instagram automatically changing their kids' profiles to Teen Accounts. But this tech is driven by AI, and AI doesn't always get it right: As such, there's a good chance that the AI accidentally flags adult accounts as teens by mistake, locking users 18 and older into restrictions meant for minors. That means your account will automatically take on some pretty drastic restrictions: You'll go private if you aren't already, and adult users won't be able to see your posts or DM you without following first. You won't see "violent" content, or posts promoting cosmetic procedures. (Perhaps no loss there.) Instagram will also warn you whenever you use the app for 60 minutes in one day, advising you to stop. And while you don't need to, your account will enter "sleep mode" between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., muting alerts and sending auto-replies to DMs. (To be fair, perhaps many of us adults would benefit from these restrictions.) If Instagram thinks you're 16 or 17, you'll be able to manually disable some of these limitations, but that's not really the point. If you're an adult, you shouldn't expect Instagram to change the parameters of your account because its AI bot got it wrong. Meta knows it, too. As the company says it its blog post: "We're taking steps to ensure our technology is accurate and that we are correctly placing teens we identify into protective, age-appropriate settings, but in case we make a mistake, we're giving people the option to change their settings." The company hasn't said exactly what those mitigation steps are yet, so I'll update this piece once we know for sure. My guess, however, is there will be an option in settings to verify your age and transfer your account back to an adult account.

Instagram uses AI to crack down on teens posing as adults online

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts with, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Instagram is expanding its use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Meta's AI now hunts underage Instagram users

Meta is ramping up its AI-driven age detection on Instagram, expanding its use of artificial intelligence to identify underage users and automatically adjust their account settings. The feature, initially announced in 2024, will begin testing in the US starting today. Instagram's AI system looks for signals indicating users are under 18, such as congratulatory messages from friends on birthdays or engagement patterns with content. Teen accounts are subject to more restrictive settings by default, including private accounts, limited messaging from strangers, and restricted content. Last year, Instagram automatically enabled these safety features for all teen accounts. The company will now use AI to identify teen accounts with adult birthdays and adjust their settings accordingly. If the system detects a user is underage despite their account indicating otherwise, it will automatically apply more restrictive teen settings. Instagram acknowledges the possibility of errors and allows users to change their settings back. Meta has been enhancing its settings to protect teens and kids on the platform in response to concerns from parents and lawmakers. The European Union launched an investigation into Meta's protection of young users' health last year, and a US state attorney general filed a lawsuit over predators targeting kids on Instagram. The move is also part of a broader debate among tech companies about who should be responsible for keeping kids safe online. Recently, Google accused Meta of trying to "offload" its responsibility onto app stores following the passage of a bill in Utah. This highlights the ongoing disagreement between tech companies, including Meta, Snap, and X, over their roles in protecting young users.

Instagram Tries Using AI to Determine if Teens Are Pretending to Be Adults

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Instagram turning to AI to spot teens pretending to be adults

Instagram will test artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help find the accounts of teenagers posing as adults, parent company Meta announced Monday. The technology, which will begin testing Monday, will "proactively" search for accounts it suspects could belong to teenagers, even if they enter a false birth date when creating the account. "We've been using artificial intelligence to help determine age ranges for some time, but leveraging it in this way is a big change," Meta wrote in a blog post Monday. Should AI determine the account actually belongs to a teenager, it will implement Instagram's "Teen Account" settings. These accounts, which were rolled out last fall for users under 18, have stricter content moderation settings and give parents more control over the user's experience. Teenagers under 16 require a parent or guardian's approval to make changes to the default settings. The technology giant said it is making efforts to ensure the technology is accurate, but will give people the option to change their settings if "we make a mistake." Meta said parents will also receive notifications on Instagram with further information on "how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online." The changes come amid a broader debate in the industry over age verification, with major tech companies in disagreement over who or what is responsible for confirming users' ages. Meta, along with other social media apps like X and Snapchat, believe the onus to verify kids' ages is on the app stores. Meta doubled down on this stance Monday, writing in the blog, "We'll continue our efforts to help ensure teens are placed in age-appropriate online experiences, like Teen Accounts, but the most effective way to understand age is by obtaining parental approval and verifying age on the app store." Meanwhile, Apple and Google, two of the market's largest app stores, argue app developers are better equipped to handle age verification and that age verification presents risks to the privacy of minors and their parents or guardians. Apple argues a requirement to verify age on the actual app marketplace would make all users hand over sensitive information, when only a limited number of apps need such specific information about users. Apple rolled out what it called "age assurance" technology earlier this year, which allows parents to be able to select the age range of their kids instead of providing the exact birth dates when setting up child accounts. Meta's Instagram and Facebook have come under increased scrutiny by lawmakers and parents who argue the platforms have not done enough to protect young users from harmful content online. Lawmakers failed to pass most related legislation last session, including the Kids Online Safety Act, which would create regulations for the kinds of features tech and social media companies offer kids online.

Meta Is Testing AI That Can Catch Teenagers Trying to Get Around Age Rules on Instagram

Meta is now using AI to automatically determine whether an Instagram account belongs to a teen user. The tech giant announced on Monday that it is starting to test AI in the U.S. that detects if an Instagram account belongs to a teen. It doesn't matter if the account lists an adult birthday -- if Meta's AI detector suspects that the account belongs to a teen, Meta will recategorize the Instagram account as a specific Teen Account with protective settings and limits. "Parents are busy and don't always have the time to review these settings," Meta wrote in a blog post. "That's why we're continuing to take additional steps to ensure as many teens as possible are in Teen Account settings." Meta stated that users would have the option to change their settings if Meta's AI mistakenly classifies an adult account as a Teen Account. Related: Meta Is Reportedly Working on Smart Glasses With a Screen -- at a Price Point $1,000 More Than Its Ray-Bans Meta introduced Teen Accounts in September and has since enrolled at least 54 million teens globally into the accounts on Instagram. These accounts are private by default and have strict messaging restrictions, so teens can only be messaged by people they follow. They also prohibit sensitive content, like media that shows fighting or promotes cosmetic procedures, and give teens time limit reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes of use each day. Meta expanded Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger earlier this month and announced that 97% of teens aged 13 to 15 opted to stick with these protected accounts on Instagram. Meta has been investing in AI to help detect age for years. The company first announced its intent to invest in AI to have a clearer idea of users' ages in June 2022, writing that the AI would use information like when an account was created and how a user interacted with content to determine their age. Meta's apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, have 3.35 billion daily active users as of the fourth quarter of 2024. Instagram has 169 million users in the U.S., per Statista estimates.

Instagram to Use AI Tools to Spot Teens Who Falsely Claim to Be Adults

Instagram is notifying parents to review their teens' ages on the app Instagram is expanding its Teen Accounts setting, which was first rolled out in 2024, with a new proactive technology and parents' reach-out campaigns. Announced on Monday, the Meta-owned social media platform is testing the use of AI-powered age detection tools to identify teenagers on the platform who have added an adult birthday. The company says it will then place these suspected users in Teen Accounts to protect them from potential harassment and abuse on the platform. Alongside, Instagram is also beginning to send notifications to parents to ask them to review the age set on their teenager's account. In a blog post, the social media platform announced that it had started testing AI tools to detect teenagers using the app. This is not a new move for the company. When Instagram first rolled out Teen Accounts in 2024, it said that it would be using algorithms to look for markers to detect teenagers posing to be adults. These include user engagements (as teenagers are more likely to interact with and follow more teenagers), and comments where someone wishes them "happy 14th birthday," while their account says they are 20 years old. With AI, the company is now tightening the ropes to identify teenagers. The AI-powered age detection tools are first being tested in the US. While Instagram did not reveal how it plans to use AI in age detection, it highlighted that it has been using AI-powered age detection for several years. However, that was done to identify adult and teenager demographics to personalise their experience on the platform (read: showing them age-appropriate ads). Instagram admits that using the technology in this capacity is a new territory for it, and AI can make mistakes while identifying a user as a teenager. As such, it is offering an option to users to change their settings in case they are wrongly placed in Teen Accounts. However, this raises a question on the effectiveness of the entire method, as teenagers who are posing as adults to escape the restrictions might not prefer to be added to Teen Accounts. Currently, Instagram users who attempt to change their age from under 18 to above 18 have to complete several steps before the settings can be changed. This includes recording a video selfie, uploading an identification card, or having other users confirm their age. It is likely that suspected teen accounts might have to complete one or all of the verification steps. The company has not confirmed this. Apart from this, the Meta-owned platform is also sending notifications to parents on Instagram with information on how they can have conversations with their teenagers to provide the correct age while using social media apps. The company said it has worked with pediatric psychologists to curate the tips to have these conversations.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users.Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children - or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Lying About Your Birth Year Might Not Cut It Anymore, As Meta Is Using AI-Powered Age Detection To Catch Underage Users And Move Them Into Teen Accounts

As social media companies are focused on introducing products and features that keep their users hooked, regulatory authorities are actively looking into protecting teenagers from the adverse impact of excessive consumption of these platforms by having companies focus on protecting younger users. A growing number of teens, not only parents, seem worried about the harmful impacts of social media, as pointed out in a recent report. Meta, amidst the growing concerns, launched its Teen Accounts for Instagram last year but has been pursuing the protection more aggressively by now using its AI technology to have more teens enroll in the right account. With the growing trend of social media platforms, there seems to be a wider concern among the community about how detrimental excessive consumption can be, especially for younger users' mental health. Even the teens are said to now be aware of how the exposure to these platforms is impacting their time and generally believed to not have a positive impact. A recent report by Pew Research surveyed about 1,391 teens and parents across the United States and highlighted how young users now feel the need to hold these platforms accountable for the harm they have done to them. Given the shifting view of teens along with the parents and community, Meta launched Instagram Teen Accounts last year and recently expanded to Facebook and Messenger aimed at supporting parents who want to have control over their kids' interaction and are able to see the content they see and the time they spend online through the built-in protection setting. Teenagers are automatically part of the protection settings, and if they need to make any changes, they need either parental or guardian approval. Now, Meta is going one step ahead as it announced its plan to ensure the new protection is expanded to as many teens as possible. Meta shared yesterday about now using its AI-based age technology in the U.S. to protect young users by identifying teens who have been misrepresenting their age in order to have access to adult features on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. While the company admits this is not the first time it is deploying AI to estimate user age groups, it also takes the chance to highlight that it is the first time it is actively using the tool for applying safeguards and, hence, is a significant step. If the AI technology detects any underage teenager that claims otherwise, they would be automatically transitioned to the teen account with more stringent safety features placed up. Meta emphasizes that it is ensuring the technology is accurate through its built-in safeguards and AI scans for behavioral cues. It is also aware of false positives and how, in order to deal with them, the company will allow users to update their settings themselves. Meta seems to be actively responding to pressure from the public and regulatory authorities and making a smart move by not only complying but also looking for more ways to protect young children from the harmful impact of social media consumption.

Meta expands Teen Account settings with AI and Parental support

Meta has announced that it is working with parents and new technology to increase enrollment in Teen Accounts, providing safer digital experiences for younger users. The company said it will begin notifying parents on Instagram about the importance of ensuring their teens provide the correct age and how to verify it together. "Parents don't have to go it alone - we're using AI to help place 'suspected teens' into Teen Account settings," Meta said in its announcement. Meta reported that it has enrolled more than 54 million teens in Teen Accounts globally. Of those, 97% of teens aged 13-15 have opted to stay in these protective settings. The company also expanded the Teen Account features to Facebook and Messenger. Meta noted that both parents and teens have expressed satisfaction with the updated experience. Over 90% of surveyed parents reported that the new Teen Account protections help support their teens on Instagram. Despite the positive feedback, Meta continues to address concerns from parents about the overwhelming nature of the online world and strives to make sure teens have age-appropriate experiences. Beginning April 21, 2025, Meta will begin notifying parents on Instagram, encouraging them to have conversations with their teens about the importance of providing accurate age information. Meta collaborated with experts, including pediatric psychologist Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart, to offer tips on how parents can verify their teens' ages and have productive discussions about online safety. Meta emphasized that the digital landscape continues to evolve, and it is crucial to work with parents to ensure that as many teens as possible benefit from the protective settings associated with Teen Accounts. In recognition of the fact that parents may not always have time to manually adjust settings, Meta is introducing new AI technology to help. Starting April 21, 2025, the company will begin testing a system in the United States that uses AI to identify accounts that are likely operated by teens, even if the account lists an adult birthdate, and will automatically place them into Teen Account settings. Meta has been using AI for age detection for some time, but this will mark a major change in how it is applied. The company is focused on ensuring that the technology is accurate and that teens are placed into the correct, protective settings. In the event of an error, users will have the option to modify their settings. Meta also acknowledged that determining online age remains an industry-wide challenge. While the company continues to work on ensuring teens are in age-appropriate environments, it believes the most effective method for verifying age is by obtaining "parental approval and verifying age" via app stores. The updated notifications for parents and the AI-based teen detection system will start rolling out in the United States on April 21, 2025. Meta has not yet shared a timeline for a global rollout.

Meta to Use AI to Detect and Move Teens to Protected Accounts

Meta has begun testing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect teens using its platforms. This comes after the company recently expanded teen accounts from Instagram to Facebook and Messenger as well. Teen accounts come with certain built-in protections such as a limit on who can contact the user, and the content the user sees. Further, under-16 account holders cannot carry out live streams on Instagram without parental permission. Teens also require parental permission to turn off the feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity in direct messages (DMs). In a recent blog post discussing ways to enroll teens into teen accounts, the company noted that parents do not always have time to review the settings of their teenage children's social media accounts. As such, the company says that in cases where its AI technology detects teens, it will move them to teen accounts even if the user's age listed with the account is 18 or above. Meta has been using AI technology to identify adult users of its services for some time now. In a 2022 blog post, the company explained that to create an adult classifier model, it first trains the AI model on information such as when the user created an account, interactions with others and content. It argues that people in the same age group react similarly to the same kind of content. Such signals allow the AI model to calculate the user's age. The model is then evaluated by Meta's team, who manually review data points that are strong indicators of a user's age. Meta says that it evaluates the model on a country-by-country basis. Besides carrying out age detection on its own, in 2022, the company also partnered with the UK-based identity verification service Yoti to verify user age based on a video selfie. Yoti uses AI for identity verification and trains its models on "anonymous images of diverse people from around the world." Meta's age detection efforts are relevant in the context of the growing demand to regulate the social media usage of individuals under 18. While some countries like Australia have banned social media for under-16s (and others like the UK are considering it), some countries like India have put restrictions on processing the personal data of anyone under the age of 18. This comes as part of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act, 2023), which requires platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent before processing the data of anyone under 18. As per the Draft Rules set to operationalise this Act, platforms have to verify the age and identity of the person giving verifiable parental consent on behalf of an under-18 user. One of the key questions that people have raised about India's parental consent plans under the DPDP Act and Rules is that they do not acknowledge situations where a child inputs the wrong information and claims to be an adult. While some argue that to tackle these platforms will have to verify all users, others say that platforms can rely on self-declared ages. Meta's automatic detection of user ages will offer a way to ensure that children do not bypass the parental consent requirement, without the tech giant having to ask all users to submit personal information like government IDs. However, even with AI, detection does not have 100% accuracy. Meta also acknowledges that no matter how accurate a model is, it can get things wrong. This means that not only is it still possible for children to slip through the cracks, but also, false positives could end up putting restrictive settings on legitimate adult accounts.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teenagers are pretending to be adults | BreakingNews.ie

Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to determine whether children are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but the photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate date of birth when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teenagers can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content", such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teenagers will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10pm until 7am. Meta has said it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts with, profile information, and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures come as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and wellbeing of younger users. A growing number of US states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they do not do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no-one under the age of 13 uses them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online", the company said.

Instagram tries using AI to determine if teens are pretending to be adults

(AP) - Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine if kids are lying about their ages on the app, parent company Meta Platforms said on Monday. Meta has been using AI to determine people's ages for some time, the company said, but photo and video-sharing app will now "proactively" look for teen accounts it suspects belong to teenagers even if they entered an inaccurate birthdate when they signed up. If it is determined that a user is misrepresenting their age, the account will automatically become a teen account, which has more restrictions than an adult account. Teen accounts are private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. "Sensitive content," such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a "sleep mode" will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10:00 pm until 7:00 am. Meta says it trains its AI to look for signals, such as the type of content the account interacts, profile information and when the account was created, to determine the owner's age. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform affects the mental health and well-being of younger users. A growing number of states are also trying to pass age verification laws, although they have faced court challenges. Meta and other social media companies support putting the onus on app stores to verify ages amid criticism that they don't do enough to make their products safe for children -- or verify that no kids under 13 use them. Instagram will also send notifications to parents "with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online," the company said.