The social network Instagram is testing new ways to verify the age of its users, including an artificial intelligence facial recognition tool, to verify that people are 18 or older.

Tools are not yet available to try to keep kids off the Meta platform.

The use of artificial intelligence for facial recognition, especially in teens, has raised some alarms today, given Meta’s troubled history when it comes to protecting users’ privacy.

Meta emphasized that the technology used to check people’s ages cannot identify who they are – only their ages. Once verification is complete, Meta, in partnership with Yoti ‘Startup’, will delete the video recording of the face.

The Facebook and Instagram owner said that starting today, if anyone tries to edit their birthday on the platform to post videos and photos of under-18s or older, they will need to verify their age using one of these methods.

Meta continues to face questions about the negative effects of its products, especially Instagram, on some teens.

You must be at least 13 years old to join Instagram

Technically, children must be at least 13 years old to join Instagram, similar to other social networks. But some get around this problem by lying about their age or having a parent do it. Meanwhile, people between the ages of 13 and 17 are subject to additional restrictions on their accounts – for example, adults who aren’t logged in and can’t message them – until they turn 18.

To use the face scanning option, the user has to upload a “selfie” video, which is sent to Yoti, a London-based startup that uses people’s facial features to estimate their age.

Yoti is one of several biometric companies taking advantage of the UK and Europe’s push for stronger age verification technology to prevent children from accessing pornography, dating apps and other adult-oriented content.

The professor at the University of Cambridge Law School warned that “while Instagram is likely to live up to its promise to delete images of a candidate’s face and not attempt to use them to recognize individual faces, the normalization of facial recognition is another societal concern.” Essex (UK) Darrag Murray.

Meta announced in 2021 that it would shut down Facebook’s facial recognition system and delete the facialprints of more than a billion people after years of scrutiny by courts and regulators.