Instagram expands AI age-detection tool globally: What it is, how it works

Meta is widening the global rollout of its AI tool to detect underage users who enter incorrect birth dates, as it seeks to bring more teenagers under Instagram's built-in safety settings

Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI)-based age-estimation technology globally to identify Instagram users who may be teenagers but have entered an adult date of birth while creating their accounts. The move is focused on ensuring more users aged 13 to 17 are placed in Instagram’s Teen Account settings, which automatically restrict who can contact them, the content they can view and the time they spend on the platform.

 

Alongside, Meta is introducing additional measures in select regions. In Australia, it has started using Apple’s age-range signal to help determine a user's age. Meanwhile, parents in the US will begin receiving notifications on Instagram this month explaining how the platform identifies teenage accounts and places them under age-appropriate settings.

 

 

The move comes as governments worldwide step up efforts to regulate children's social media use and strengthen online safety protections. However, determining whether a user is a teenager remains a challenge, particularly when users enter an incorrect date of birth to access features or content intended for adults.

How Meta uses AI to identify teenage users

Meta said its AI technology looks for signals that suggest an account may belong to a teenager, even when the user has entered an adult birthday. The company has not detailed all the signals used by the system in this announcement.

 

The technology is intended to identify users who may have misrepresented their age and move them into Teen Account settings. These settings are designed for users aged 13 to 17 and include restrictions on who can contact them, the content they can see and how much time they spend on Instagram.

 

Meta introduced Teen Accounts on Instagram in September 2024, with the aim of automatically placing teenage users in accounts with built-in safety settings. These include limits on messages from people they do not follow or are not connected to, restrictions on sensitive content and reminders to leave the app after extended use. Younger teens also require parental permission to change certain settings.

 

Meta said it has been using AI technology to identify teenage users and that the global expansion follows it. The company is also continuing to roll out similar technology on Facebook. It plans to begin introducing comparable measures globally on Threads later this year.

 

The expansion is part of Meta's broader effort to identify underage users and strengthen protections for teenagers. The company said it is also investing in technology to identify accounts that may belong to children under 13, who are not permitted to use its platforms. 

Apple age-range signal in Australia

Meta has started using Apple's age-range signal in Australia as an additional way to understand users' ages.

 

Under this system, when a parent sets up a smartphone for their teenager, they can allow the app store to confirm the user's age range. When the teenager downloads an app, Apple can share that age range with the app developer, helping it determine whether the user meets the app's age requirement.

 

Meta said it is using the signal voluntarily. However, it argued that age-related protections could remain inconsistent across apps as long as sharing age-range information is optional for app stores and developers.

 

The company has called for legislation that would require app stores to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent. Meta said a single verified age signal shared with apps could reduce the need for individual platforms to conduct separate checks.

 

It also argued that age-estimation technology used by individual platforms could act as a backup to identify errors in the information shared by app stores. Such corrections could then be passed back to app stores, helping improve age information across multiple apps. 

 

Meta said that its age-verification rules vary across countries, with some requiring checks that could involve collecting sensitive information, such as government identification documents. The company said it supports approaches that can establish a user's age without requiring every platform to collect such information independently.