Instagram expands AI age detection to teens worldwide
Meta says millions more minors will land in Teen Accounts even if they gave an adult birthday. Its announcement does not mention Mexico.
Meta is taking worldwide the artificial intelligence that estimates the age of people on Instagram. The company says it will place millions more teenagers in Teen Accounts, even when they signed up with an adult birthday.
Teen Accounts limit who can contact a minor, what content they see and how much time they spend in the app. They exist on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
For families in Mexico, that could mean new restrictions on a teenager's account that nobody asked for. The announcement never names the country, so it is unclear whether the estimation already runs there, or since when.
The system is not new. In May, Meta explained that the AI reads a full profile (posts, comments, bios) for clues such as birthday wishes or mentions of school grades, and also analyzes photos and videos to guess an approximate age. The company insists this is not facial recognition.
If an account may belong to a minor, it is disabled and its owner has to prove their age to keep it. Anyone trying to change a birthday to over 18 must verify it with an official ID or with facial age estimation from Yoti, an outside vendor. That applies only where the rollout has reached. How well the system works, and how often it errs, are Meta's own claims, with no independent evaluation.
Meta gives few details by region. In the United States, parents will see a video in their Instagram feed this month about the company's approach. In Australia, Meta already uses the age range that Apple's app store shares as an extra signal.
The move is tied to an agreement with 52 U.S. attorneys general, and Meta wants TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar practices. It also argues that app stores should verify age.
On Facebook, the rollout is still under way. Threads will get the same technology worldwide later this year.
