Instagram Expands AI Age Estimation to Teen Accounts Worldwide

Meta has today announced it is rolling out its artificial intelligence (AI) age-detection technology globally on Instagram to find teenagers who have listed an adult birthday on their profiles.

Until now, this proactive detection system only operated in select regions. With this update, Meta is expanding the technology worldwide so that any account suspected of belonging to a minor is automatically placed into secure Teen Account settings, regardless of what birthdate was entered during sign-up.

The company stated that the expansion addresses a major loophole where underage users bypass platform restrictions simply by changing their birth year. Because self-reported data is often unreliable, Meta uses automated systems to analyze account signals and behavior to spot younger users.

Once an account is placed into a Teen Account, built-in protections go into effect immediately. These safeguards automatically restrict who can send messages to the user, filter out sensitive content, limit daily screen time with helpful reminders, and turn on sleep mode overnight to mute notifications.

For users under sixteen, any changes to these strict settings require direct parental permission through supervision tools. Meta is also bringing similar protections to Facebook and plans to roll out the technology on Threads later this year. In addition to its own internal detection tools, Meta is exploring external solutions.

In Australia, the company has started utilizing Apple’s declared age-range signal when apps are downloaded, advocating for broader app-store verification standards across the industry.

Meta’s global push comes as social media platforms face mounting pressure from governments, regulators, and parent groups worldwide over youth online safety.