Meta recently announced that it will use artificial intelligence technology to predict user age on the Instagram platform to automatically transfer users who have falsely reported their age to a teenager account. The move is designed to address the increasing public concern of social media on the mental health of adolescents. To protect teen users, Meta has launched teen accounts and has set up many restrictions, such as limiting contacts and visible content, automatically blocking offensive comments, and more. However, the effectiveness of this move depends on users filling in age information honestly. Therefore, Meta developed the "Adult Classifier" software to judge its age by analyzing user information, interactive content, etc., and further improve the platform's youth protection mechanism.
Recently, Meta announced that it will use artificial intelligence technology on the Instagram platform to predict user age to automatically transfer any user suspected of falsely reporting age to a teenager account.
The move was launched with widespread public attention on the impact of social media platforms on adolescent mental health, and Meta has been introduced into adolescent accounts as early as September this year. Designed for users aged 13 to 17, the Teen Account has built-in multiple restrictions, including limiting who can contact them and what they can see. At the same time, the account will automatically block potential offensive comments and message requests.
However, a secure teen account will only be valid if the user uses it voluntarily or fills in age information honestly. Therefore, Meta has developed a proprietary software tool called "Adult Classifier" that will be officially launched next year. The tool aims to classify users as older than 18 years old or younger, analyzing users’ profiles, interactive content, and follow-up lists to determine their age. Even ordinary "Happy Birthday" information can help determine the user's real age.
In a 2019 study, Meta pointed out that social media applications, especially Instagram, have negative effects on the mental health of adolescents. A 2021 Wall Street Journal report showed that Meta realized that Instagram has had an adverse impact on the mental health of teenagers, especially teenage girls, and even studies have shown that the platform has exacerbated body image problems for one-third of girls.
At present, the teenager account is still in the voluntary use stage, so a large number of teenagers are still using ordinary adult accounts. The Meta program will soon begin transferring teenagers who already provide age information to new accounts and launch the Adult Classifier feature next year. This series of measures is Meta's latest response to public opinion and adolescent mental health problems, aiming to create a safer social environment for young users.
Key points:
Meta will use AI technology to determine the age of Instagram users and automatically transfer minors to their teenagers’ accounts.
Teen accounts have multiple security restrictions to protect users from improper contacts and content.
Meta is aware of the negative impact of social media on the mental health of adolescents and continues to take steps to improve the user experience.
All in all, Meta's move reflects its emphasis on cybersecurity and mental health among adolescents, but its effectiveness remains to be seen. The accuracy and privacy protection issues of "adult classifiers" in the future are also worth paying attention to. We continue to pay attention to Meta's follow-up measures and hope that it can create a safer and healthier social environment for young users.