Social media companies are trying harder to know which users are kids
Meta will use AI, IDs and outside audits to improve age checks after state claims it designed Instagram and Facebook to hook children.
- Last week, Meta Platforms agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 states plus the District of Columbia to improve age verification on Facebook and Instagram, aiming to curb children's social media usage.
- Mounting pressure to limit children's social media access prompted this agreement, as Meta struggled to balance platform safety with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which restricts collecting data needed to verify ages.
- To identify users under 13, Meta will leverage 'contextual clues' such as birthday posts and school-related activity, and may use data from identified children to train AI models for detecting younger accounts.
- Industry-Wide, companies like Roblox and Google have adopted similar age-verification systems; Roblox uses video selfies while Google implemented an AI-based age-assurance system for YouTube last year.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that 'age-gating' demands users share sensitive personal information, which the group argues could be 'leaked, hacked, or misused' by malicious actors.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Which users are kids? Social media companies intensify age assurance with AI, IDs and video selfies
Of the child safety measures agreed to in Meta's landmark legal settlement, no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance - and for good reason. No matter how well the protections work, they are of little use if Meta can't tell which users are kids.Determining which accounts belong to children is also the linchpin of child safety measures that other companies, including Google, TikTok, and Roblox, are ramp…
Social media companies are trying harder to know which users are kids – WTOP News
‘Of the child safety measures agreed to in Meta’s landmark legal settlement, no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance — and for good reason. No matter how well the protections work, they are of little use if Meta can’t tell which users are kids. Determining which accounts belong to children is also the linchpin of child safety measures that other companies, including Google, TikTok, and Roblox, are ra…
Associated Press News
Social media companies are trying harder to know which users are kids
Determining which accounts belong to children is the linchpin of online child safety measures that Meta, Google, TikTok, Roblox and other companies are ramping up as public and regulatory sentiment increasingly turns against them.
As part of the new controls, Meta will be able to analyze account behavior to determine if the user might be a minor.
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