Meta Announces New Age Verification Measures for Young Instagram Users

Meta is trying to ease pressure from lawmakers to protect teen users from harmful content by making it harder for them to lie about their age on Instagram.

Teens who try to increase the age listed on their account will now have to verify their age using Yoti. facial age assessment biometric analysis software or by uploading an identity document. UK identity verification company started implementing age assessment on Instagram in mid-2022 and reports that 81 percent of teens prefer to verify their age using their technology rather than upload an ID document.

Meta also plans to introduce an “adult qualifier,” a tool that evaluates whether a user is under 18 based on their account data. The software will analyze the types of accounts a user follows and the content they interact with to flag accounts as “teen” and automatically apply stricter privacy settings. It will also look for suspicious behavior, such as creating an Instagram account using the same email address but with a different birthday, and check the phone’s unique device ID. according to to Bloomberg.

Accounts marked as “Teen” will not be able to remove restrictions without parental permission. The social media giant did not share accuracy rates for the adult classifier, but promised to introduce an appeals system.

Instagram introduced new account category for teens in September amid growing criticism from parents and lawsuits from dozens of state attorneys general. Account Shortcut is still being rolled out in the US and several other countries.

So far, teens lying about their age has become less of a problem than the company expected, Mehta said. The company, however, still hopes US lawmakers will agree. shift responsibility age verification for Instagram and other third-party apps in app stores such as Google Play or Apple App Store.

Yoti becomes an example of artificial intelligence

Meanwhile, Yoti is getting more attention from other industries besides social media. The British firm was recently recognized as an artificial intelligence company by technology trade association techUK. case study.

In addition to Instagram, its software for assessing a person’s age has been used by Facebook Dating to ensure only adults can sign up for the service, Epic Games for its parental review and consent tool Kids Web Services, and OnlyFans to ensure users are over 18. Other clients include Sony PlayStation, French social media app Yubo, adult site XHamster and game developer Lockwood Publishing.

The company has carried out more than 650 million age checks and has been recognized by UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom as a “highly effective” age verification method.

The case study also notes that Yoti faces obstacles. This includes ensuring fairness across different ages, skin tones and genders, a diverse set of data collected under the GDPR, and ensuring the technology is explainable and accepted by regulators.

Article topics

age verification | facial biometrics | Instagram | Meta | biometrics for selfie | social media | Yoti