Meta Uses AI to Identify Underage Users on Instagram, Triggering Protective Mode

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Published inAI News · 4 min read · Apr 22, 2025

Meta announced it will use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify teenage users on Instagram and prevent them from concealing their true age. This measure aims to enhance the online safety of teenagers, ensuring they use social media in a protected environment. Meta stated that if the system detects an account suspected to belong to a teenager, even if the user has entered an adult birthdate, the system will automatically switch it to "teen account" mode.

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Instagram launched its teen account feature last year to provide younger users with a built-in safety mechanism. This mechanism restricts who can contact teenage users and limits the types of content they can view. For users under 16, changing settings requires parental consent to ensure parents maintain some oversight of their children's online activities.

Meta has been using AI to determine user age for some time, and now this technology's application is more explicit, ensuring teenage users can only access Instagram through teen accounts, not adult accounts. Last year, Meta stated that monitoring users' birthday posts and reports from other users would help identify teenagers who entered false birthdays.

To improve accuracy, Meta is constantly optimizing its technology and has implemented adjustment mechanisms to address potential misjudgments. In an official blog post, Meta noted that the digital world is rapidly evolving, so collaborating with parents to ensure more teenagers use teen accounts with protective settings is crucial.

Furthermore, Instagram plans to notify parents, reminding them of the importance of teenagers accurately providing their age online. Meta points out that parents verifying their children's birthdate information is a key step in ensuring teenagers are on protected accounts.

Notably, Meta has already placed at least 54 million teenagers into teen accounts globally, with 97% of 13-to-15-year-old users using these protected accounts. Recently, Meta extended teen account features to Facebook and Messenger platforms, further strengthening online safety for teenagers.

Key Points:
🌐 Meta uses AI to identify teenage Instagram users, forcing a switch to protected mode.
👨‍👩‍👧 Users under 16 require parental consent to change settings.
🌍 54 million teenagers globally are using protected accounts to ensure online safety.

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