Meta announced the global expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) technology used by Instagram to identify teenage users. The system can estimate people's ages based on information from their profiles and may place minors in accounts with special protections, even when they enter a date of birth indicating that they are adults.
The news was announced on Monday (9). According to the company, millions of teenagers in different countries will now be identified by the technology and automatically transferred to so-called Teen Accounts.
The initiative aims to make it harder for minors to circumvent the platform's age restrictions. The expansion also comes amid a series of lawsuits in the United States accusing Meta's social networks of harming young users.
How does AI identify teenagers?
- The technology uses AI to analyze various pieces of information available on Instagram profiles. The signals considered include references to birthdays, mentions of school series and other indications related to users' ages;
- The analysis is not limited to the account biography. The system also examines posts, comments, captions and other content shared on the platform;
- In addition, Meta uses visual clues found in photos and videos, such as height and bone structure, to estimate a person's age range.The company says this analysis does not work as facial recognition: the goal is to identify visual patterns associated with certain ages, without specifically identifying who appears in the images;
- By combining this information, Instagram can identify accounts that likely belong to teenagers, even when users state that they are over 18.
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Meta technology uses AI to analyze different information available on Instagram profiles – Image: miss.cabul/Shutterstock
What changes for teen accounts?
When the system identifies a possible teenager, the account may be moved to the Teen Account experience, which brings together more restrictive safety settings.
Among the protections are:
- Private profile by default: limits who can view and interact with the teenager’s posts;
- Restricted messaging: users can only receive messages from people they follow or with whom they already have a connection;
- Protected comments: content deemed harmful is hidden;
- Content controls: the platform applies additional restrictions to recommended material;
- Usage limits: the experience includes tools to control the time spent using the app.
Meta is also expanding the use of similar technologies on Facebook. For Threads, expansion worldwide is expected to begin as early as 2026.
Meta also faces lawsuits over teen safety
The technology expansion comes amid legal pressure on the company.
In August, Meta reached agreements that could total US$18 billion (approximately R$96 billion) with nearly all U.S. states and territories. The lawsuits questioned the impact of the company's platforms on young users and called for improvements in identifying children and teenagers. The agreements involved 52 state and territorial attorneys general, according to the company.
Meta says the expansion of AI is part of its commitments to identifying minors and providing age-appropriate experiences.
The company also announced an additional measure in Australia: the use of Apple-provided age range signals. With authorization from parents or guardians, the app store can share an indication of the user's age with developers, helping determine whether the user meets each service's age requirements.
According to Meta, this type of identification can make protections more consistent across different apps without requiring each platform to carry out the entire verification process individually.
Rodrigo Mozelli is a journalist graduated from São Paulo Methodist University (UMESP) and is currently a writer for Olhar Digital.
