Mark Zuckerberg Meta is planning to use artificial intelligence to detect teens who are lying about their age on Instagram.
According to Bloomberg, Instagram, which has been severely criticized by makers and lawmakers over its negative impact on the mental health of teenagers, plans to use AI to identify underage users.
As per Allison Hartnett, Meta’s director of product management for youth and social impact, the new software tool named “adult classifier” will categorize users into two age groups, older and younger than 18, by using their account data.
The software will look into users' profiles, followers, and content they like and share and will even check the birthday messages to identify their age.
Based on the findings, people who are suspected under 18 will be automatically placed into the teen accounts despite their claims about their age on their profile.
Moreover, Instagram introduced teen accounts in September 2024, with more stringent default privacy settings following backlash.
All the children under 18 will automatically have teen accounts, while those 16 and 17 years old will have the option to adjust their privacy settings themselves.
Meanwhile, those under 16 would need parents' consent to change restrictive message settings.
The photo-sharing social media platform has already begun to move teens' accounts to these more restrictive settings based on their self-reported birthdays but is also planning to use the adult classifier software early in 2025 to catch those who are lying about their age.
