By Paul Chimodo
Meta has announced a new artificial intelligence system designed to detect and remove underage users from its platforms, as part of a broader push to strengthen child safety online.
According to the company, the AI tool scans photos, videos, and user profiles for contextual and visual signals such as height, bone structure, birthday references, and school-related content to estimate a user’s age.
If the system identifies an account belonging to someone under 13, it will be deactivated, and users will be required to verify their age through official identification or age-estimation tools before regaining access.
Meta says the move is aimed at enforcing its policy that restricts Facebook and Instagram accounts to users aged 13 and above, while also reducing cases of false age declarations.
The company clarified that the technology is not facial recognition but rather an age-estimation system that combines visual cues with behavioural data from posts, comments, and bios.
The rollout of the system has already begun in selected countries, with plans for wider global deployment in the coming months as part of Meta’s expanded AI-driven safety framework.
The development comes amid increasing global pressure on tech companies to improve protection for minors online and enforce stricter age verification measures across social media platforms.
