Meta adds Instagram AI age checks for underage accounts
Meta is adding instagram AI visual analysis to its age assurance systems on Instagram and Facebook to detect accounts it believes belong to underage users. The company said the update is meant to place teens into default, age-appropriate experiences.
Meta said the system will use visual clues such as height or bone structure, along with signals from profiles, posts, comments, bios and captions. If an account may be underage, Meta said it will be deactivated and the account holder will need to provide proof of age through the age verification process to prevent deletion.
Teen Accounts on Instagram
Meta said it has launched Teen Accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger with built-in protections that limit who can contact teens and the content they see. It said everyone must be at least 13 to use Instagram or Facebook, and that it automatically places teens under 18 into a 13+ content setting.
The company said it is updating the age assurance technology it uses to help ensure teens are in the right experiences for their age. It also said it is expanding the technology to Instagram Reels, Instagram Live and Facebook Groups.
EU, Brazil and US protections
Meta said it is expanding protections for teens it suspects misrepresent their age on Instagram in the EU and Brazil and on Facebook in the US. The company said it is also making reporting underage accounts easier by simplifying reporting flows in the app and on its Help Center.
Meta said it is supplementing human review teams with AI models that apply consistent evaluation criteria to every report. In testing, Meta said the AI-driven review delivered higher accuracy and faster resolutions than human review.
Visual analysis and age checks
The company said its visual analysis scans photos and videos for visual clues that text might miss, and that it is not facial recognition. Meta said the AI looks at general themes and visual cues, not the specific person in the image.
For users, the immediate change is simpler: Instagram and Facebook will rely more heavily on automated checks before an account is treated as age-appropriate or flagged for review. Meta has built the process around age verification, report flows and Teen Accounts, not around manual review alone.
