Meta has begun expanding its artificial intelligence-powered age estimation technology globally to identify teenagers on Instagram and automatically place them under stricter account protections, even when users have entered false dates of birth to appear older.
The rollout, announced on Monday, November 9, 2026, comes amid mounting legal pressure on the social media company over allegations that its platforms expose young users to harmful content and encourage excessive screen time.
Brandspur Brand News reports that the technology will initially target Instagram accounts worldwide, with Meta planning to extend the system to Facebook and Threads later this year.
The system analyses users’ behaviour and posts to estimate their ages, allowing the company to identify teenagers who may have registered as adults. Those accounts can then be moved into Teen Account protections without relying solely on the birthdays provided during registration.
Meta said the technology had already been tested in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, where it had helped place more teenagers under age-appropriate safeguards.
The expansion is expected to affect teenagers who have bypassed existing restrictions by entering incorrect birth dates, a practice that has raised concerns about children’s exposure to inappropriate content and unwanted interactions online.
Teen Accounts come with several restrictions, including limits on who can contact young users, the content they can access and how long they spend on the platform.
Instagram also reminds teenagers to leave the app after 60 minutes of activity and silences notifications during nighttime hours. The platform has additional safeguards designed to limit exposure to features that could encourage unhealthy social comparisons.
Meta’s move follows growing scrutiny of social media companies over their impact on children and adolescents.
In August, the company agreed to pay $18bn as part of a settlement with US states over allegations that its platforms encouraged addictive behaviour, failed to adequately verify users’ ages and exposed young people to harmful material.
The agreement also included commitments to strengthen protections for teenage users, with additional restrictions on screen time, nighttime activity and certain platform features.
Under the announced changes, teenagers would face a two-hour daily usage limit, alongside a midnight-to-6am curfew. Parents and guardians would also receive updates about their children’s account activities and notifications when teenagers first message an adult.
Meta has called on other social media companies, including TikTok and YouTube, to adopt similar age-estimation measures, arguing that teenagers use multiple platforms and require consistent protection across the industry.
The global expansion marks a further step in efforts to strengthen online safeguards for young people, although questions remain about how accurately automated systems can distinguish teenagers from adults and how users wrongly classified as minors can challenge the decision.
