Meta uses AI profiling to infer user age, enforce teen restrictions

Meta says it has begun using AI to detect and remove users under 13 from its platforms, and to automatically turn on Teen Account protections for users it deems to be teenagers. A blog post says the algorithmic function will flag Instagram users in Brazil and the EU, and Facebook users in the U.S., even if they have declared an age over 18.

The firm also wants you to know it is “providing parents on Facebook and Instagram with tips on how to help them have conversations with their teens about the importance of being honest about their age online.”

Meta has put on a good show of caring about online safety and age assurance legislation. The company is continually explaining how it supports the goal of keeping people safe online; its latest missive claims that, “for over a decade, we’ve built tools, features, and resources to help teens have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps. This includes launching Teen Accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger with built-in protections that limit who can contact teens and the content they see.”

“For years, we’ve worked to find and remove accounts that belong to those we believe are underage,” Meta says. “Today, we’re providing more detail on our ongoing efforts to develop advanced AI that detects underage accounts, including the use of visual analysis to look beyond simple admissions of age.”

Australia has proof Meta is bad at keeping kids off its platforms

The suggestion that Meta works hard to keep kids off its services is easily exploded with reference to two bits of context: first, data from Australia showing that Meta has done a miserable job of complying with its Social Media Minimum Age, and second, court decisions in the U.S. which confirm that Meta has designed its products to be addictive to kids.

Less explicit, but still relevant, is the company’s attempt to leverage age assurance as another excuse to give its AI access to vast libraries of data. To offer age appropriate experience, Meta says, it has to know a user’s age. But rather than use an established age assurance provider that it has already integrated, Meta prefers what the UK Information Commissioner’s Office categorizes as “profiling”: in Meta’s words, “using AI technology to analyze entire profiles for contextual clues – such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades – to determine if an account likely belongs to someone underage.”

“We look for these signals across various formats, like posts, comments, bios, and captions, and we’re continuing to expand this technology across additional parts of our apps like Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, and Facebook Group,” Mets says. “If we determine an account may be underage, it will be deactivated and the account holder will need to provide proof of age through our age verification process to prevent their account from being deleted.”

To Meta, the equation looks like this: verifying a user’s age is hard (even though Meta has integrated age assurance from recognized UK provider Yoti). As such, in order to do so, Meta will scan reams of users data to make an assumption about age. If that is contested, a user can verify their age using Yoti.

Not facial recognition, just extensive facial data collection

The profiling process also now includes “visual analysis,” which Meta says “allows our AI to scan photos and videos for visual clues about a person’s age that text might miss. We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition. 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.”

To expand on the equation, then: Meta says age verification that collects a user’s biometric data is unsafe. Instead, it will collect a user’s biometric data. If that doesn’t work, it’s back to third-party biometric age assurance.

The company’s new offerings also include AI-driven reporting flows for underage accounts, and work to strengthen circumvention measures. It appeals to parents with new notifications to parents in the U.S. on Facebook and Instagram with “information about how to check and confirm their teens’ ages on our apps,” and “tips on how to have constructive conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online.”

Helpfully, the company also takes the time to let parents and users know that, if it’s being honest, it thinks legislation should make app stores responsible for age verification, and provide apps and developers with this information so that they can provide age-appropriate experience.

Meta’s position throughout the latter half of its existence has been consistent: nothing is the company’s fault. Everything should be someone else’s problem. The answer to any challenge is to stake more control over users’ data. AI is a top business priority. Meta works hard to suggest it is keeping kids safe. But it doesn’t actually do much to make that happen.

Article Topics

age inference  |  age verification  |  face detection  |  facial analysis  |  Meta  |  social media