Meta said Monday it is expanding its AI age-estimation technology globally on Instagram to place millions more teens in Teen Account protections, including people it suspects are teens even if they entered an adult birthday.
Teen Accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger automatically limit who can contact teens, the content they see and their time on the apps, Meta said. The Verge reported that Meta first launched the AI-powered age assurance updates in the United States, the European Union and Brazil last year.
Meta said it is continuing to roll the technology out on Facebook and will begin launching similar technology globally on Threads later this year. In Australia, it has begun using Apple’s age-range signal as an additional method to help understand age, a step the company said is voluntary. Parents in the United States will begin receiving an Instagram notification this month explaining how teens are placed in protections and how they can help make sure a teen’s age is accurate, Meta said.
The company said the expansion builds on its commitments under a recent agreement with 52 bipartisan attorneys general across U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia to strengthen how it identifies teens and children under 13. Reuters, in a report carried by The Hindu, said Meta struck settlements in August with nearly every U.S. state and territory and agreed to improve how it identifies teens and children under 13. The Verge, in a correction, said the global expansion announced Monday will only place teen users into Teen Account settings, and that detecting and removing users under 13 is a separate process.
TechCrunch said Meta’s tools analyze profiles for contextual clues such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades, and also look at visual cues in photos and videos. Al Jazeera reported that Teen Accounts include time and notification limits, details that go beyond Monday’s newsroom post.
Meta also called on TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same practices. It said many new teen-safety laws do not explain how companies should determine a user’s age. The European Union has separately drafted rules that would restrict under-15s from social media, as AI Tech Daily reported.
Sources
- Meta Newsroom: Expanding Teen Account Protections to Teens Around the World (November 9, 2026)
- The Verge: Instagram AI age detection is expanding globally, by Jess Weatherbed (November 9, 2026)
- TechCrunch: Meta expands Instagram AI age-guessing tech globally, by Aisha Malik (November 9, 2026)
- Reuters via The Hindu: Meta expands AI age checks for Instagram teens as lawsuits mount (November 10, 2026)
- Al Jazeera: Meta rolls out automated age checks for teens globally (November 9, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: EU Kids Act draft would restrict under-15s from social media, games, and AI chatbots (September 15, 2026)