Meta has shared more details about what it’s doing to keep kids aged under 13 off of Facebook and Instagram. Along with using artificial intelligence systems to look for contextual clues (like mentions of a school grade or birthday celebrations in profiles, posts and captions), the company says it’s employing visual analysis techniques. It will scan photos and videos to look for additional indicators of a person’s age.
“We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition,” Meta wrote in a blog post. “Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone’s general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image. By combining these visual insights with our analysis of text and interactions, we can significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove.”
Meta says it’s using visual analysis “in select countries as we work toward a broader rollout.” If the company suspects that a user is under 13, it will deactivate their account. The user will then need to provide proof that they’re 13 or older to get back in. Otherwise, Meta will wipe their account.
Meanwhile, Meta is expanding its use of systems designed to detect users aged between 13 and 15 so it can automatically place them in teen accounts, which feature parental controls and other protections. It will start using this tech on Instagram in Brazil and in 27 European Union countries. It’s also bringing these practices to Facebook for the first time, beginning in the US before expanding to the EU and UK next month. As for WhatsApp, Meta recently introduced parent-managed accounts to enable kids aged under 13 use that app more safely.
The company is facing pressure from a number of jurisdictions to protect younger users and make sure kids aged under 13 aren’t on Facebook and Instagram. Last week, the European Commission released its preliminary findings of an investigation into both platforms. It indicated that Meta may be in breach of the Digital Services Act by failing to do enough to keep children off of Facebook and Instagram. The company will have the opportunity to review the findings and attempt to remedy the issues that investigators flagged.
