Associated Press Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay
Instagram is beginning to test the use of artificial intelligence to determine whether children are lying about their age on the app, the parent company’s meta platform said Monday.
Meta has been using AI to determine people’s age for some time, the company said, but the photo and video sharing app has now “actively” searched for teen accounts that they suspect belong to teenagers, even if they enter an inaccurate date of birth when they signed up.
If the user is determined to misrepresent his age, the account will automatically become a teen account. This has more limitations than adult accounts. By default, teenage accounts are private. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive from people who follow or are already connected. “Sensitive content” is restricted, including videos of people fighting and people promoting cosmetic procedures, Meta said. Teens will receive notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes, enable “sleep mode” and turn off notifications and send an automatic replease that sends messages directly from 10pm to 7am
Meta says it trains AI to look for signals, such as determining the type of content the account interacts with, profile information, and the age of owners when the account is created.
Advanced measures will arrive as social media companies face increasing scrutiny about how platforms affect the mental health and well-being of younger users. They face court challenges, but growing states are also trying to pass age verification laws.
Meta and other social media companies should help hold app stores accountable and check their age amid criticism that they are not doing enough to make the products safe for their children, or make sure that children under the age of 13 are not using them.
Instagram will also send notifications to parents “with information on how to have conversations with teens about the importance of providing the right age online.”
Original issue: April 21, 2025 8:12am EDT
