Instagram and Facebook Use AI to Detect Underage Users

Meta has announced a new initiative to safeguard children on its platforms. The parent company of Instagram and Facebook will employ artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse photos and videos in order to identify users who may be under 13 years of age.

In its official statement, Meta explained that its AI will search for visual cues such as height or bone structure to estimate a person’s age. The company emphasised that this system is not facial recognition, but rather an analysis of general patterns to estimate age non-specifically.

“Our AI looks at common themes and visual cues, such as height or bone structure, to estimate a person’s age; it does not identify specific individuals in images,” Meta stated, as reported by TechCrunch on Thursday (7/5/2026).

This technology is also combined with text analysis and user interactions to improve accuracy in detecting underage accounts. The visual analysis system is currently operational in several countries, with plans to expand to more regions in the near future.

Furthermore, Meta will use AI to assess users’ overall profiles for contextual clues such as birthday celebrations, mentions of school grades, and other signals appearing in posts, comments, bios, captions, and various other content formats. This technology will also be extended to other features like Instagram Live and Facebook Groups.

If the system detects a likelihood that a user is underage, the account will be deactivated. Users must then undergo Meta’s official age verification procedure to prevent permanent deletion of the account.