Meta to use AI to check height and bone structure to identify underage users

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Meta is reportedly set to begin using artificial intelligence (AI) to check a person’s height or bone structure to identify underage users. A TechCrunch report on Tuesday (5/5) local time stated that the AI will scan photos and videos for visual clues indicating whether a user is under 13 years old. If identified as under 13, the user’s account will subsequently be deleted from Facebook and Instagram. “We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition,” Meta stated in its blog post. The statement further read, “Our AI looks at common themes and visual cues, such as height or bone structure, to make a general estimate of a person’s age; this AI does not identify specific individuals in images. By combining these visual insights with our text analysis and interactions, we can significantly increase the number of underage accounts we identify and remove.” Meta stated that this system is part of their efforts to prevent children under 13 from accessing their platforms. These efforts include using AI to analyse entire profiles for contextual clues, such as birthday celebrations or mentions of school grades. The company also seeks identifying signals from users through various formats, such as posts, comments, bios, captions, and others. Meta plans to expand this technology to more parts of their applications, including Instagram Live and Facebook Groups, in the future. If Meta deactivates a user’s account after identification by this visual system, the user will need to prove their age using an advanced age verification process to prevent account deletion. In addition to introducing visual analysis, Meta also announced the expansion of technology that places teenagers into “Teen Accounts” on Instagram to 27 countries in the European Union and Brazil. These “Teen Accounts” place users into a stricter account experience with additional safeguards, such as only receiving DMs from people they follow or are already connected to, hiding harmful comments, and automatically setting the account to private. Furthermore, Meta said it is expanding this technology to Facebook in the US for the first time, while for the UK and the EU, the technology will begin to be implemented in June 2026.