Meta expands AI age estimation to identify teenage users worldwide

Meta says it is expanding automated age-estimation technology worldwide to identify teenagers who may have entered an adult date of birth. The November 9 announcement describes using AI to place suspected teenage users into Teen Account protections, rather than relying only on the birthday entered at registration.

The company says the system examines behaviour and posts to estimate age. It had tested the technology in countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia before announcing the wider rollout. Its claims of encouraging results are company assessments, not an independent measure of accuracy.

The expansion begins with Instagram this month. Meta says parents in the United States will receive notifications about the measures, and that it plans to extend the age-estimation approach to Facebook and Threads later in the year. Those later services should not be described as already covered everywhere.

Teen Account settings limit aspects of contact, content and usage. The change seeks to reduce the ability to avoid those settings by supplying a false adult birthday. An automated estimate is not proof of a user's exact age, and the announcement does not establish that every underage account will be detected.