Instagram (META-1.69%) said Monday that it will begin using AI to catch teenagers using its platform with adult settings as it works to remedy its many child safety issues.
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, announced the start of Teen Accounts in September, saying they would provide “built-in protections for teens” and “peace of mind for parents.”
Teen accounts are private by default and include restrictions on who teens can message. They also have tighter sensitive content restrictions, limits on tagging and mentions, and time controls. Teens under 16 need parental approval to make changes to their settings.
Instagram is now expanding the effort to get more teens to use the accounts.
“Starting today, we’ll begin sending notifications to parents on Instagram with information about how they can have conversations with their teens on the importance of providing the correct age online,” Instagram said in a statement Monday.
The social media giant said it will use AI to try to find “accounts we suspect belong to teens, even if the account lists an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account settings.”
Instagram said it has enrolled at least 54 million teens in the accounts and 97% of those teens ages 13 to 15 have kept the protective settings.
Meta has launched a slew of initiatives over the last few years in an effort to protect teens and kids from sexual predators, following reports of rampant child trafficking on its platforms and scrutiny over the impacts of its platforms on youth mental health.
In April, Meta announced a new “nudity protection” feature for direct messages that automatically blurs nudes sent and received by teens under 18 to help protect children from predators.
The company was heavily criticized over its use of encryption technology for Facebook and Instagram direct messages — something insiders said helped predators, not victims.
—Rocio Fabbro contributed to this article.
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