Meta Uses AI to Remove 13-and-Under Users from Instagram

Parents worldwide are about to get a powerful new ally in keeping their youngest kids off social media.

Meta announced it's using artificial intelligence to scan photos and videos for visual clues that indicate someone might be under 13 years old. The technology looks at general indicators like height and bone structure to estimate age ranges, not to identify specific individuals.

The company is clear this isn't facial recognition technology. Instead, the AI analyzes broad visual themes and combines them with text analysis from posts, captions, and profile information like school grades or birthday mentions.

When Meta suspects an account belongs to someone under 13, it deactivates the profile immediately. Users then have the chance to prove they're old enough by providing verification, or Meta will permanently delete the account.

The visual analysis is currently being tested in select countries before a wider rollout. Meta is also expanding systems that automatically detect users aged 13 to 15, placing them in teen accounts with built-in parental controls and extra protections.

Instagram will get these age detection tools first in Brazil and 27 European Union countries. Facebook is joining the effort too, starting in the United States before expanding to the EU and UK next month.

The push comes as regulators worldwide demand stronger child safety measures. Last week, the European Commission suggested Meta might be violating the Digital Services Act by not doing enough to keep children off its platforms.

The Ripple Effect

This technology represents a significant shift in how social media companies verify age. For years, platforms relied mostly on self-reported birthdates, which kids could easily fake.

The new approach creates multiple layers of detection that work together. Text clues catch some underage users, visual analysis catches others, and behavioral patterns flag even more. By combining these methods, Meta says it can identify and remove far more underage accounts than before.

Parents have long worried about children creating secret accounts or lying about their age to access social media. This technology makes those workarounds much harder, giving families more control over when kids enter the social media world.

Meta has also introduced parent-managed WhatsApp accounts for kids under 13, recognizing that some families want supervised access to messaging tools. The focus is shifting from blocking all access to creating age-appropriate, protected experiences.

As this technology expands globally, millions of families will benefit from stronger safeguards that work automatically in the background.