MENLO PARK (The Thursday Times) — Meta said on Monday that it is taking the artificial intelligence Instagram uses to estimate users’ ages worldwide, a move it says will put millions more teenagers into restricted Teen Accounts, including those who have listed an adult birthday.
How it works: the system looks at whole profiles for clues, including birthday celebrations and mentions of school grades, and checks posts, comments, bios and captions. Meta has also said it can read visual signs in photos and videos, such as height and bone structure, though it said in May that visual analysis was available only in selected countries.
What changes for a flagged account: Teen Accounts are private by default, hide harmful comments and allow direct messages only from people the teenager follows or is already connected to. Meta says they limit who can contact a teen, what they see and how long they spend on the apps.
Why now: the system had already been introduced in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, the European Union and Brazil. In August, Meta agreed settlements worth up to $18 billion with nearly every US state and territory over claims that its platforms harm teenagers, and committed to better detection of users under 18. The technology is still being rolled out on Facebook and is due on Threads later this year.
For parents in Pakistan: Meta’s announcement names no excluded countries, but it does not say when the change reaches any particular one, or how an adult who is wrongly flagged can appeal. It has published a guide for parents worldwide at familycenter.meta.com, and asks them to help make sure a teenager’s listed age is accurate.
