Meta, the parent of Instagram, has said it will use artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify users under the age of 18 who try to impersonate their age on the site. The initiative is part of a larger push to improve safety protocols for children following repeated criticism over the firm’s treatment of children’s privacy and mental well-being issues.
The technology giant announced Monday that it has been using AI to determine users‘ ages already and will now ramp up the efforts by automatically changing suspected underage accounts into teen accounts. The teen accounts are equipped with more stringent privacy and safety settings meant to protect minors from inappropriate content and contact.
Stricter Settings for Teen Accounts
Teen accounts will now be private by default. Messaging capabilities will be limited, and teens will only be able to receive direct messages from people they follow or who they are already connected with. Meta will also limit exposure to “sensitive content” like violent videos or those advocating cosmetic procedures.
To promote healthy online habits, Instagram will notify teens who spend over 60 minutes on the app and will enable a “sleep mode” by default. This setting disables notifications and activates auto-replies from 10 pm to 7 am.
Meta described that its AI model is trained to detect signs that a user could be underage. These are the content users engage with, account creation information, and profile details. If the AI detects a user as possibly faking their age, their account settings will automatically change to those of a teen account.
No Livestreaming Without Parental Permission
As part of the update, Meta also confirmed that teens aged under 16 will no longer be able to livestream on Instagram without direct parental consent. Parental consent will also be needed to disable features such as content blurring, which reduces exposure to possibly upsetting content.
The changes come after Meta recently rolled out teen safety settings to its other sites, including Facebook and Messenger.
