Meta · Mark Zuckerberg · United Kingdom · U.S. · European Union · Wired
A Kid With a Fake Mustache Tricked an Online Age-Verification Tool
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Meta is beefing up its age-verification mechanisms with an AI system that analyzes images and videos on Instagram and Facebook for “visual cues,” such as height and bone structure, to identify and delete accounts of users under the age of 13.
Key facts
- The report, titled “ The Online Safety Act: Are Children Safe Online? ” showed that 46 percent of 9- to 16-year-olds believe that circumventing age controls is easy
- Meta began implementing age-verification tech in 2024 for Instagram users in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom
- Meta also announced that it will expand the scope of its technology to detect users between the ages of 13 and 15 and automatically assign them teen accounts
- Now, the mechanism will be extended to Instagram accounts in Brazil and 27 European Union countries
Summary
The new approach is part of a series of measures Meta adopted as part of an AI-based security strategy designed to correct the limitations of traditional methods, which rely heavily on self-reported age. Meta explained that it is implementing several tools to identify contextual indicators that allow estimating a person's age. These tools are in addition to automated analysis techniques aimed at detecting physical traits from imagery shared to Meta's social platforms. If, based on these elements, Meta suspects that an account is managed by a child under 13, it will be suspended.