Recently, Instagram announced that it will use artificial intelligence technology to verify users' ages, aiming to better identify teenage users. This new measure targets placing users aged between 13 and 17 into new teen account settings.
This technology from Meta, if it can accurately identify adults, will make significant progress in user safety and privacy, especially compared to state government-enforced age verification at the smartphone level.
Since the report in March 2021, Instagram has realized that "young users might lie about their birthdates." Therefore, since then, the platform has been developing and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to identify users who misreport their ages. The earliest application case was to remind teen users by warning them in their private messages if they interact disproportionately with adults.
In June 2022, Instagram partnered with the UK-based age verification company Yoti to verify users who attempt to change their age from under 18 to 18 or older. By December 2022, Meta reported that "96% of teens attempting to change their birthday from under 18 to 18 or older were blocked." Yoti uses static images from video selfies to estimate users' ages, while Meta emphasizes that its technology cannot identify user identities and deletes these images immediately after verification.
Currently, Instagram users trying to change their age can choose Yoti verification, upload government-issued ID, or request verification from mutual friends. Meta has recently introduced a new AI adult identification system aimed at proactively detecting teens who misreport their ages when creating accounts and placing them into teen account settings.
Meta's AI age verification technology is expected to launch in the U.S. by early 2025, utilizing "profile information, account creation time, and interaction data" to better assess users' true ages.
If Meta's progress in this area is too slow or ineffective, the federal government may intervene. The proposed "Social Media Child Protection Act" in February 2023 requires social platforms to enforce users to provide valid identification to prohibit users aged 16 and below from using these platforms.
Social media is increasingly under scrutiny by lawmakers, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also apologized to parents of online harassment victims at congressional hearings. Under this pressure, Meta advocates for federal age verification measures to be implemented at the smartphone or app store level, rather than relying on comprehensive industry standards or unified regulation.
Key Points:
🌟 Instagram to roll out AI age verification, identifying teen users.
🔒 Yoti partnership for age verification, 96% of misreporting users blocked.
🚨 If AI performance is poor, government may intervene, enforcing mandatory measures.
