Instagram is Using AI to Catch Teens Lying About their Age and Restrict their Accounts

Meta announced Monday that it’s using AI to detect kids who lie about their age on Instagram to bypass safety measures. When Instagram suspects an account belongs to a teen, even if it claims an adult age, it automatically places the account in a restricted Teen Account.

Launched last year, Teen Accounts come with built-in protections that limit who can contact the teen and what content they can see. Teens under 16 also need parental approval to change these settings.

Instagram Expands AI Age Verification to Better Protect Teen Users

Instagram has been using AI to estimate users’ ages for a while, but it now officially uses the technology to place teens in Teen Accounts instead of adult ones.

Last year, the company told TechCrunch it intended to take this step. It said it would identify teens using fake adult birthdays by spotting things like birthday posts and user reports.

Instagram Fine-Tunes AI to Accurately Assign Teen Accounts, Allows Manual Adjustments

Instagram says it works to ensure its AI accurately places teens in Teen Accounts, but users can still adjust their settings if a mistake occurs.

“The digital world keeps changing, and we need to adapt,” the company said in a blog post, emphasizing the importance of partnering with parents to help more teens access the protections built into Teen Accounts.

Instagram also announced it will start notifying parents with tips on how to talk to their teens about using their real age online. One key suggestion: check that their birthday is correct on the app.

This update follows Meta’s recent rollout of Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger. According to Meta, more than 54 million teens worldwide have been placed in these protected accounts, with 97% of users aged 13–15 still using them.

Read the original article on: TechCrunch

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