Meta's digital identity move: Automating age verification

Meta has launched a new AI-powered age detection system to protect young users on Instagram. Implemented as of 2024, this system will now operate in a much more comprehensive manner.

The new system relies on behavioral data on the platform rather than age information declared by the users themselves. Factors such as the content of messages, interaction patterns, and social circles play a decisive role in age estimation.

For example, a phrase like "Happy 16th birthday" in a message can be evaluated by the AI as a sign that the account belongs to a minor. Similarly, since reactions to content and interaction habits differ by age group, the algorithm analyzes these details to determine age.

Through this method, users who claim to be older than they are but are actually minors also fall within the system's detection scope. Not fully trusting account ages, Meta plans to follow a different security policy for these users.

With the new decision, interventions will be made for accounts found to have misrepresented their age. If the AI determines that an account belongs to a child user and this information does not match the profile age, strict security measures will be automatically activated for that account.

Planned to be tested in the US first, this system will operate without user consent. However, Meta notes that they are also taking into account that the AI-based system may occasionally make mistakes.