Meta uses AI to analyze body cues to detect underage users
▼ Summary
– Meta will use AI to scan visual clues like height or bone structure in photos and videos to estimate if a user is under 13, not for facial recognition.
– The AI system analyzes these visual cues along with text and interactions to identify and remove underage accounts, currently operating in select countries.
– If Meta deems a user underage, their account is deactivated, requiring proof of age via the company’s verification process to avoid deletion.
– This announcement follows a New Mexico jury ordering Meta to pay $375 million for misleading consumers about child safety on its platforms.
– Meta is expanding its “Teen Accounts” with stricter safeguards to 27 EU countries and Brazil on Instagram, and to Facebook in the U.S., U.K., and EU.
Meta is deploying AI-driven visual analysis across Facebook and Instagram to identify users who may be under 13, the company confirmed Tuesday. The system scans photos and videos for physical cues like height or bone structure to estimate a person’s age, a move aimed at removing underage accounts from the platforms.
“We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition,” Meta stated in a blog post. “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. By combining these visual insights with our analysis of text and interactions, we can significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove.”
The visual analysis system is currently active in select countries, with plans for a broader rollout. Meta says this technology complements its existing efforts to keep kids under 13 off its platforms. Those efforts already include using AI to scan entire profiles for contextual clues, such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades in posts, comments, bios, and captions. The company intends to expand this capability to more areas of its apps, including Instagram Live and Facebook Groups.
If Meta’s AI determines a user may be underage, the account is deactivated. The user must then complete the company’s age verification process to prevent permanent deletion.
This announcement arrives weeks after a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for misleading consumers about platform safety and putting children at risk. The court also required Meta to implement fundamental changes to its platforms. Meta has since threatened to shut down its social media services in the state.
This case is one of many lawsuits Meta and other Big Tech companies face over child safety.
Separately, Meta announced Tuesday that it is expanding its technology for automatically placing teens into stricter “Teen Accounts” on Instagram to 27 countries in the EU and Brazil. These accounts come with additional safeguards, such as receiving direct messages only from people they follow or are already connected to, hiding harmful comments, and setting accounts to private by default.
Meta also said it is bringing this technology to Facebook in the U. S. for the first time, with the U. K. and EU following in June.
(Source: TechCrunch)
