Meta announced Monday that it will roll out its age-estimation technology globally. The move puts millions more teens around the world into Teen Accounts settings on Instagram, the company said in a blog post.
In April 2025, Meta began using AI technology to detect teens on Instagram, even if they'd used an adult age upon opening an account. Once identified, teens are proactively put into Meta's safest settings, which are designed to limit inappropriate content.
This month, parents in the U.S. will begin seeing a video in their Instagram feed explaining how teens are placed in age-appropriate protections.
"We’ll continue to do our part to proactively ensure teens are in age-appropriate experiences on our apps," the blog post said.
Still, Meta has spent the year under fire for its ability to protect young users.
In March, the company lost a case brought by the state of New Mexico, which alleged that Meta's design features helped pedophiles sexually exploit children on Meta platforms. A jury found Meta liable for misleading consumers about endangering children and the safety of its platforms. Meta, which said it would fight the decision, was ordered to pay nearly $950 billion in related penalties.
In August, Meta made a $12 billion settlement with dozens of state attorneys general in a trial over whether the social media company had designed addictive platforms.
As part of the settlement, Meta agreed to implement new platform design features and recommit to industry-standard child safety measures, including daily time limits, screen time options like night mode, and stronger age assurance measures. The company also called on competitors TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube to agree to the settlement terms, at which time Meta would pay another $5 billion. On Monday, Meta again asked TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same practices.
"We’ve set a strong standard for age assurance, but unless other companies follow suit, teens remain inconsistently protected online, defeating the purpose of these laws," wrote Meta.
Meta's proposed fixes were met with general approval from online child safety groups, despite continued criticism of the company's Teen Accounts.
Months prior to the settlement, Meta expanded Teen Accounts to all Meta platform users globally. At the time, the tech giant explained it was exploring additional ways to reinforce age-appropriate content moderation and repetitive, personalized algorithms.
Meanwhile, governments around the world have begun cracking down on social media access for teens, including Australia's complete social media ban for users under 16. Other countries — as well as some U.S. states — have passed laws reinforcing age-gaited platforms and requiring social media platforms enact age assurance measures. Last week, Meta sued the California attorney general in order to block a new law designed to reduce youth social media addiction.
Meta said that its services "collectively enable billions of people around the world to share ideas, offer support, [and] discuss important topics." The company argued that the law, set to get into effect in January, would "make it unlawful for Meta to disseminate speech to minors altogether."
