Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) technology globally to identify teenagers who misrepresent their ages when registering on its platforms and automatically place them under age-appropriate safety protections.
The technology is designed to detect users suspected to be teenagers even when they provide adult dates of birth, addressing a challenge that has made it difficult for social media platforms to ensure younger users are subject to age-based restrictions.
Meta said the expansion followed positive results from its initial deployment, which has helped place more teenagers under its Teen Accounts protections. The global rollout is expected to bring millions of additional Instagram users under the safeguards, including those who registered with incorrect birth dates.
Teen Accounts, available on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, automatically restrict who can contact teenage users, limit the content they can access and introduce controls over their time on the platforms.
The company said it is also continuing to roll out the AI technology on Facebook, while similar age-detection capabilities are expected to reach Threads globally later this year.
The expansion forms part of Meta’s efforts to improve age verification and strengthen protections for younger users across its social media platforms.
