Overview
- Meta detailed the rollout Tuesday, saying its AI will scan photos and videos for visual cues such as height and bone structure to estimate age and will deactivate suspected under‑13 accounts until users verify.
- The company is expanding automatic placement into stricter Teen Accounts to 27 EU countries and Brazil on Instagram and to Facebook in the U.S., with the U.K. and EU slated for June.
- Teen Accounts limit who can message teens, reduce sensitive content, and set profiles to private by default, targeting users who registered with adult birthdays but appear to be 13 to 17.
- Flagged users must prove age with an ID or a third‑party facial age estimate like Yoti to restore access, and Meta says this visual analysis is not facial recognition and is live only in select countries for now.
- Parents in the U.S. will receive in‑app notices with tools to check a teen’s listed age, in a push that follows a $375 million New Mexico jury penalty in March and EU findings in late April that faulted Meta for letting under‑13s on its services.