For years, social media platforms have largely relied on users to provide their birth dates when creating accounts. But as younger users increasingly find ways to access experiences intended for adults, Meta is taking a different approach: using artificial intelligence to question the ages users declare.

The technology company announced on November 9 that it is expanding its AI-powered age-estimation technology globally on Instagram, allowing the platform to identify accounts it suspects belong to teenagers, even when their registered birthdays indicate they are adults.

The expansion is expected to bring millions more young users into Instagram’s Teen Account protections, which automatically introduce restrictions around who can contact them, the content they can view and the time they spend on the platform.

The development marks another step in Meta’s effort to strengthen age assurance across its platforms. Rather than relying exclusively on information supplied during registration, its systems examine contextual clues across users’ profiles to estimate whether an account belongs to someone below 18.

These signals can include birthday messages, references to school grades and other information contained in posts, comments, biographies and captions. Meta has also described using visual analysis to identify general patterns in photographs and videos that may suggest someone is underage. The company says that is not facial recognition and does not identify individuals in images.

When an account is identified as potentially belonging to a teenager, Instagram can automatically place it under Teen Account settings, even if the user previously entered an adult date of birth.

The protections are designed to provide a more restricted experience. They limit unsolicited contact, reduce exposure to certain sensitive content and introduce time-management features. Users under 16 also require parental permission to make certain settings less restrictive.

The global expansion comes as Meta faces increasing legal and regulatory pressure over the effects of its platforms on younger users. The company is facing lawsuits alleging that its services contribute to harm among teenagers, placing greater attention on how social media businesses design, manage and protect young audiences.

The move also reflects a broader shift in the technology industry towards age assurance, as governments and regulators seek stronger safeguards for children online.

However, using artificial intelligence to estimate age introduces another set of questions. Although the technology could identify teenagers who deliberately provide incorrect birth dates, it also creates the possibility of misclassification. An adult could be incorrectly placed into a Teen Account, while a younger user could still escape detection.

Meta has not published detailed accuracy figures for the global expansion, making independent assessments of its effectiveness particularly important.

There are also wider privacy considerations around the use of personal information, profile activity and visual content to determine a user’s age. The effectiveness of such systems will depend not only on their ability to identify younger users but also on how transparently platforms explain their methods and handle mistakes.

Meta is continuing to expand the technology on Facebook and plans to introduce similar age-estimation measures globally on Threads later in 2026. In Australia, it has also begun using Apple’s age-range signal as an additional way to understand users’ ages.

For the wider digital industry, the development signals a growing expectation that platforms must take a more proactive role in protecting younger audiences.

The challenge will be finding the balance between effective age protection, user privacy and the freedom of adults to use digital platforms without unnecessary restrictions. As artificial intelligence becomes more involved in determining who users are and what experiences they can access, the question is no longer simply what age people declare online, but how much responsibility technology companies should have in determining whether that information is accurate.

ALSO WATCH: MARKETING EDGE ONTV