Meta Platforms is introducing a new artificial intelligence-powered system that will analyze faces in photos and videos to estimate the ages of teenage users on Facebook and Instagram. The move comes as regulators across Europe, Brazil, and the United States push social media companies to tighten protections for children and teenagers online.
The company has assured that the tool is designed to identify underage users more accurately. It will also ensure that teenagers between 13 and 18 receive age-appropriate content recommendations as per the safety settings on its platforms.
Meta explained that it doesn’t use facial recognition technology for its purpose and that the technology is not capable of recognizing individuals. On the contrary, Meta uses visible indicators of a user's age to determine whether the person is under 13 or a teenager.
The tech giant uses artificial intelligence algorithms to estimate a person's age based on behavioral and textual inputs, such as posts, comments, captions, bios, and activity on their profiles. Yet Meta conceded that some inputs may be missed using the above techniques, or that people may be deceptive.
With image and video analysis added, Meta believes it can improve the overall accuracy of age estimation in its systems for Facebook and Instagram.
Alongside the rollout, Meta renewed its call for app stores to take greater responsibility for verifying users’ ages during signup. The company argued that centralized age verification at the app store level would allow developers to create safer, age-appropriate digital experiences without building separate verification systems.
Meta also claimed that a majority of parents in the United States support stronger age checks for young users online.
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The international government and regulatory bodies have become more vigilant towards the use of social media platforms, particularly amid the rising concerns over the usage of these websites by minors. Regulatory bodies demand that social media platforms should prevent anyone under the age of 13 from using their sites and protect adolescents from harm.
However, the representatives of Facebook’s parent organization highlighted that there is no single technological advancement that could solve the problem on its own.
The privacy groups and opponents remain adamant, arguing that AI-based age estimation systems lack precision in examining users' facial images and their personal information.