Meta AI scans height and bone structure to detect underage users on Facebook and Instagram

Meta will use AI to analyze height and bone structure to identify if users are underage | TechCrunch

Meta will start using AI to scan photos and videos for visual clues to see if a user is under 13 and should be removed from Facebook and Instagram, the company announced on Tuesday. These visual clues include a person's height or bone structure, it said. "We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Meta explained in its blog post. "Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image. By combining these visual insights with our analysis of text and interactions, we can significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove. The visual analysis system is now operating in select countries, but Meta says it's working toward a broader rollout. Meta says this system is part of its efforts to keep kids under 13 off its platforms. These efforts include using AI to analyze entire profiles for contextual clues, such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades. The company looks for these signals across different formats, such as posts, comments, bios, captions, and more. Meta plans to expand this technology to more parts of its apps, including Instagram Live and Facebook Groups, in the future. If Meta determines that a person may be underage, it will deactivate their account, and the user will need to prove their age using the company's age verification process in order to prevent their account from being deleted. The announcement comes weeks after a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and putting children at risk. The company was also ordered to implement fundamental changes to its platforms. Meta has since threatened to shut down its social media services in the state. It's worth noting that this case is one of many lawsuits that Meta and other Big Tech companies are facing over child safety. Meta also announced on Tuesday that it's expanding its technology that automatically places teens into stricter "Teen Accounts" on Instagram to 27 countries in the EU and Brazil. These teen accounts place users into a stricter account experience with additional safeguards, such as receiving DMs only from people they follow or are already connected to, hiding harmful comments, and setting accounts to private by default. Additionally, Meta said it's expanding the technology to Facebook in the U.S. for the first time, followed by the U.K. and EU in June.

Facebook and Instagram are using AI bone structure analysis to identify photos of kids

Facebook and Instagram have a new way to detect and remove users under 13: AI bone structure analysis. In a blog post on Tuesday, Meta -- Facebook and Instagram's parent company -- says its AI system will scan photos and videos posted to its platforms for "general themes and visual cues," including height and bone structure. "We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Meta says in the blog post, adding that it "does not identify the specific person in the image." This system is part of Meta's efforts to keep kids under 13 off its platforms, and will also analyze posts, comments, bios, and captions to search for "contextual clues" that someone might be underage. Meta's AI-powered facial analysis, which is only available in "select" countries including the US ahead of a wider rollout, seems similar to the face-scanning tech offered by age verification services like Yoti and k-ID. Facebook and Instagram will deactivate accounts identified as underage, and the owner will need to verify their age to prevent it from deletion. The announcement comes just days after a New Mexico jury found that Meta violated state law by misleading customers about the safety of its platforms and failing to protect children from child predators. Meta must pay $375 million as a result, and may have to implement changes that the company has already threatened to leave the state over. Separately, Meta is expanding the technology it uses on Instagram to automatically identify and place users between 13 and 18 into Teen Accounts. These accounts come with stricter content controls, block messages from strangers, and prevent users under 16 from livestreaming. Instagram rolled out the tech in 2024, and now Facebook will do the same for users in the US, followed by a rollout in the UK and EU in June. In its announcement, Meta continues to advocate for age verification at the app store and operating system level, an approach that's gaining traction in Congress and some states, including California and Colorado.

Meta is using AI bone structure analysis to detect and remove underaged users - Engadget

Meta has shared more details about what it's doing to keep kids aged under 13 off of Facebook and Instagram. Along with using artificial intelligence systems to look for contextual clues (like mentions of a school grade or birthday celebrations in profiles, posts and captions), the company says it's employing visual analysis techniques. It will scan photos and videos to look for additional indicators of a person's age. "We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Meta wrote in a blog post. "Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image. By combining these visual insights with our analysis of text and interactions, we can significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove." Meta says it's using visual analysis "in select countries as we work toward a broader rollout." If the company suspects that a user is under 13, it will deactivate their account. The user will then need to provide proof that they're 13 or older to get back in. Otherwise, Meta will wipe their account. Meanwhile, Meta is expanding its use of systems designed to detect users aged between 13 and 15 so it can automatically place them in teen accounts, which feature parental controls and other protections. It will start using this tech on Instagram in Brazil and in 27 European Union countries. It's also bringing these practices to Facebook for the first time, beginning in the US before expanding to the EU and UK next month. As for WhatsApp, Meta recently introduced parent-managed accounts to enable kids aged under 13 use that app more safely. The company is facing pressure from a number of jurisdictions to protect younger users and make sure kids aged under 13 aren't on Facebook and Instagram. Last week, the European Commission released its preliminary findings of an investigation into both platforms. It indicated that Meta may be in breach of the Digital Services Act by failing to do enough to keep children off of Facebook and Instagram. The company will have the opportunity to review the findings and attempt to remedy the issues that investigators flagged.

Meta AI will analyze faces of teen users 'but it's not face recognition'

Meta's latest attempt to comply with age verification requirements in Europe, Brazil and the US is to roll out AI-powered tech to analyse the faces of teenage users of Facebook and Instagram. The company says AI analysis will be used to estimate the ages of faces but that it does not amount to face recognition ... Regulators around the world are requiring social media companies to get far better at identifying and blocking users below the age of 13. Additionally, teenagers in the 13-18 range need to be given age-appropriate feeds. The social media network already uses AI to try to pick up clues as to the age of its users. This includes using AI technology to analyze entire profiles for contextual clues -- such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades -- to determine if an account likely belongs to someone underage. We look for these signals across various formats, like posts, comments, bios, and captions, and we're continuing to expand this technology across additional parts of our apps like Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, and Facebook Groups. Meta says that it is now adding visual analysis of the faces of users. This technology allows our AI to scan photos and videos for visual clues about a person's age that text might miss. We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition. Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image. The company has also renewed its call for the legal responsibility for age verification to be passed to app stores rather than individual developers. While we're investing heavily in our own age assurance technology, we know that no single company can solve this challenge alone. We believe legislation should require app stores to verify age and provide apps and developers with this information so that they can provide age-appropriate experiences, like Teen Accounts. The company claims that 88% of US parents support this approach.

'This is not facial recognition' -- Meta wants to scan kids' height and bone structure to verify their age

* New AI tools for verifying ages are being rolled out by Meta * Instagram and Facebook is for users aged 13+ * A "visual analysis" will weigh up height and bone structure Age verification for sites, apps, and devices is fast becoming the norm as regulators look to protect children from potentially harmful content -- including content on social media. Now Meta has announced new "age assurance measures" for teen users and predictably, they are powered by AI. Specifically, the system will use contextual clues associated with a profile (such as mentions of birthdays or school grades) together with a "visual analysis" to help figure out how old a user is. "We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," says Meta. "Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image." Users suspected of being too young for Facebook and Instagram (so under 13) will have their accounts deactivated. They'll then need to provide some form of proof of age through a specific age verification process to get their account back. 'Safe, positive experiences online' Other Facebook and Instagram users can report accounts that they think are being used by kids under the age of 13, and Meta says it hopes to "significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove" through these methods. "We want young people to have safe, positive experiences online," says Meta (though some would disagree). "For over a decade, we've built tools, features, and resources to help teens have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps." Similar AI techniques are already being used to spot teenagers on Meta's platforms, and shepherd them into teen-appropriate spaces on these platforms. This tech is now expanding into more regions (including Facebook in the US and the UK). Meta's announcement ends with a familiar call that we've heard before from the developers of apps and websites: to force age verification at the device level, so it's a problem for Apple, Google, and Microsoft rather than Meta. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Meta's new AI uses bone structure analysis on photos to detect underage users on Instagram and Facebook

Meta has a new way of catching kids who lie about their age online, and it goes well beyond checking what they type. The company announced it is now using AI visual analysis to scan photos and videos on Instagram and Facebook for physical indicators of age, including height and bone structure. Meta's goal is to find and remove accounts belonging to users under 13 who may have signed up with a false birthday. How does the visual analysis actually work? Meta has been careful to clarify that this is not facial recognition. The AI doesn't identify who someone is. Instead, it scans for general visual cues that suggest someone is young, like their physical proportions, to estimate a broad age range. Recommended Videos This visual scan works alongside existing text-based detection, which looks for contextual clues like birthday mentions, references to school grades, and information in bios, posts, captions, and comments. Meta also plans to expand this text analysis to Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, and Facebook Groups. If an account is flagged as potentially underage, it gets deactivated. The user then needs to verify their age to get it back, or the account gets permanently deleted. The visual analysis is currently live in select countries, with a broader rollout planned. What else is Meta doing for teen safety? Meta is also expanding its Teen Accounts system, which automatically places users it suspects are between 13 and 15 into a stricter account experience. That means private accounts by default, DMs limited to people they already know, and hidden harmful comments. This expansion now covers Instagram in Brazil and 27 EU countries, following earlier content restrictions modeled on film ratings. Facebook in the US is getting it for the first time too, with the UK and EU following in June. Meta has also given parents visibility into their kids' AI chats as part of the same broader push. The moves come as Meta faces mounting legal and regulatory pressure over child safety, including a $375 million penalty in New Mexico and a European Commission investigation into whether its platforms are doing enough to keep children off them.

Meta uses AI to detect underage Instagram and Facebook users

Meta is enhancing its methods to prevent users under the age of 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram. The company is employing artificial intelligence to analyze contextual clues, such as mentions of school grades or birthday celebrations in user profiles, posts, and captions. Additionally, Meta will use visual analysis techniques to scan photos and videos for age indicators, although it emphasized that this is not facial recognition technology. "We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Meta stated in a blog post. "Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image." By combining these visual insights with text and interaction analysis, Meta aims to significantly improve its ability to identify and remove underage accounts. This visual analysis is currently being implemented "in select countries" as part of a broader future rollout. If Meta suspects that a user is under 13, it will deactivate their account, requiring the user to provide proof of age (13 or older) to reactivate it; otherwise, the account will be deleted. Furthermore, Meta is expanding systems designed to detect users aged 13 to 15. Users in this age range will be placed in teen accounts, which feature parental controls and other protections. The technology will first be applied on Instagram in Brazil and in 27 European Union countries. Meta's practices are also coming to Facebook for the first time, starting in the US before expanding to the EU and UK next month. In addition, WhatsApp has introduced parent-managed accounts to facilitate safer use by children under 13. Meta is facing increased regulatory pressure to protect younger users and prevent underage access to its platforms. Last week, the European Commission released preliminary findings indicating that Meta may be violating the Digital Services Act by not adequately preventing children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram. Meta will have an opportunity to review these findings and address the identified issues.

Meta turns to AI in age enforcement efforts

Meta announced on Tuesday it will be utilizing artificial intelligence to help remove users under 13 from its platforms as the technology giant continues efforts in the kids safety space amid scrutiny in state courts and Congress. In a blog post, Meta said it is developing advanced AI to "analyze entire profiles for contextual clues" like birthday celebrations or discussions about school grades in posts, bios, comments or captions to determine if a user is likely underage. Should it determine the account may be used by a minor under 13, the company said the profile will be deactivated and the account holder will be required to go through the system's age verification process to stop the account from being deleted. Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, added that they will also integrate visual analysis, giving AI the ability to scan videos or photos for clues about a person's age that comments, posts, or bios may miss. The company emphasized this is not facial recognition. "Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate some's general age," the company wrote. "It does not identify the specific person in the image. Some of the advanced features are currently available in select countries, but Meta said they are working towards a broader roll-out. Users will also have an easier time reporting suspected underage accounts, and human review teams will be assisted by AI models trained with a standard evaluation criteria. "In our testing, this AI-driven review delivers higher accuracy and faster resolutions than human review alone, ensuring that these accounts are addressed with more speed and reliability," the executives wrote. Meta launched their Teen Account program in 2024, which are accounts private by default for users under 18. Teen accounts have to manually accept new followers, and are only able to be messaged, tagged or mentioned by people they follow. Since its release, the tech giant has updated features for these accounts. The company said Tuesday it is expanding its new technology that automatically looks for suspected underage Instagram accounts to 27 new countries in the EU and Brazil. Parents will also get notifications this month on Facebook and Instagram on how to check and confirm their children's ages on Meta platforms. As it hosts some age verification checks on its platform, the company has pushed for legislation mandating app stores verify age and share the information with app developers. App store hosts like Apple and Google have advocated the onus be shared between the stores and app developers, and Congress has yet to come to consensus on the issue. The changes come as Meta fights off kids safety claims in multiple state courts. A jury in New Mexico determined in a landmark ruling last month that Meta was liable in compromising children's safety online. The company was ordered to pay $375 million in damages for violating New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, which prohibits unfair, deceptive and misleading business ventures across the state. A bench trial kicked off Monday for a judge to review the office of the New Mexico attorney general's requested protections for users under 18. Meta, alongside Google's YouTube, was also found liable by a jury, determining the companies were negligent in their design or operation of platforms.

Meta Uses AI to Detect Underage Users on Its Platforms

Meta Platforms has introduced new AI-powered age-assurance measures to identify teenagers and underage users on Instagram and Facebook. The company will expand systems that automatically assign suspected teenage users to "Teen Account" protections, even if they registered with an adult birthdate. Expanded safeguards will be introduced for Instagram users in the European Union and Brazil, and for Facebook users in the United States. The company stated that similar Facebook protections will be available in the UK and the EU in June. Meta also announced it is strengthening enforcement against users under 13, who are not permitted on its platforms, by using AI systems to analyze behavioral and profile-based signals to identify likely underage accounts. AI systems will analyze profiles and visual cues: The company stated that its AI systems estimate age using signals such as account activity, profile information, social interactions, and visual indicators from photos and videos. The blog post also suggests that the systems may consider cues such as height and bone structure. Meta clarified that the technology does not use facial recognition to identify individuals. Accounts identified as belonging to teenagers will automatically receive stricter protections, including restrictions on messaging from strangers, reduced exposure to sensitive content, and limits on certain platform features. Meta is streamlining underage account reporting by simplifying in-app and Help Center reporting flows. The company is also enhancing its response to these reports. Human review teams are now supported by AI models that apply consistent evaluation criteria to each report. Testing has shown that AI-driven reviews provide greater accuracy and faster resolutions than human reviews alone. Meta calls for app stores to step up at the industry level: While investing in its own systems, Meta is also advocating for an industry-wide solution. The company believes legislation should require app stores to verify users' ages and share this information with apps and developers to enable age-appropriate experiences. Meta notes that this approach is already popular with the public, with 88% of US parents supporting it. Requiring parental approval and age verification at the app store or operating system level, Meta argues, provides a centralised, consistent, and privacy-preserving place for age assurance, rather than requiring every individual app to comply with different rules. The underlying position is clear: no single company can solve the age assurance problem alone. Why this matters: Meta's broader use of AI-based age assurance aligns with global efforts to regulate children's access to social media. Governments across regions are urging technology companies to implement stronger age verification and child-safety measures. The debate has intensified after Australia enacted a social media minimum age law restricting access for users under 16. Critics cite concerns about privacy, surveillance, and the reliability of age estimation, while supporters believe stronger restrictions are needed to protect minors from harmful content and addictive platform features. The move comes amid regulatory scrutiny: The announcement comes amid growing global scrutiny of online child safety and age verification practices. Regulators in the European Union recently concluded that Meta failed to adequately prevent children under 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram, potentially exposing the company to significant penalties under the EU's Digital Services Act. Meta is involved in a significant child-safety trial in New Mexico following a $375 million jury verdict. The state is requesting that the court require Meta to block users under 13, delete underage accounts and related data, link minors' accounts to parents, restrict adult-minor messaging, and limit features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and school-hour notifications. Meta has stated that these demands are technically impractical and warned that it may withdraw its platforms from New Mexico if a workable solution cannot be found.

Meta to use AI face scans to verify teen ages on Instagram and Facebook

Meta says app stores should help with age checks, while rules get stricter and some people raise privacy concerns. Meta is introducing a new artificial intelligence system that will look at the faces of teenage users on Facebook and Instagram to estimate their ages as part of efforts to meet age verification rules in Europe, Brazil, and the United States. The company says the tool is meant to help identify underage users and give teenagers aged thirteen to eighteen more suitable content feeds, as regulators push for stronger protection of children online. Meta already uses artificial intelligence to study account details like posts, comments, bios, and captions to guess a user's age from context. It is now adding facial analysis of photos and videos to estimate age without identification. The tech giant also said the new system will scan images and videos for visual clues about age; however, the text-based signals might get missed. Moreover, they added that the tool does not identify a person, as it's not a facial recognition technology. Instead, it looks at general features such as appearance, shape, and other visible age-related cues. The company says this helps estimate whether someone is likely under thirteen or between thirteen and eighteen. Also read: Flipkart announces SASA Lele Sale: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, 17 Pro and more to see massive discounts amid price hike Meta clarified that the older methods that study profiles, posts, and interactions across its apps will remain active. However, combining them with the new signals is expected to improve the accuracy in the age estimation across Facebook and Instagram. The company has also urged the app stores to take more responsibility for checking a user's age at the time of signup. Meta argues that this would help developers offer safer, age-appropriate experiences without building separate systems. The company also claims that a large majority of parents in the United States support this idea. Also read: Deepinder Goyal unveils Temple brain-tracking wearable, rolls out limited early access to select users Regulators in Europe, Brazil, and the United States have been increasing pressure on social media companies to stop underage access and improve safety for teenagers. They want stronger systems to block children under thirteen and to ensure older teens see content suited to their age. Meta says its new approach is part of that wider effort, but it also insists that no system can be perfect on its own. It believes combining AI tools with legal rules and app store checks could create a safer online space for young users across its platforms. However, critics still question accuracy and privacy concerns.