Social Media Companies Are Trying Harder to Know Which Users Are Kids
The settlement requires stronger age checks for users under 18 and gives Meta a year to refine its approach, while allowing limited data use for AI training.
- Last week, Meta Platforms agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 states to improve age verification for 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.
- To identify users under 13, Meta will leverage 'contextual clues' such as birthday posts and school activity, and may use AI to train models for detecting younger accounts.
- Industry-Wide, companies like Roblox and Google have implemented similar age-verification systems; Roblox uses video selfies while Google deployed AI-based age assurance 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.
18 Articles
18 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…
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.
Meta agreed to pay almost 18 billion to close a lawsuit that accuses her of generating dependency on children and adolescents. Beyond the defense of the company, the case reveals that the care of our children has become one of the most profitable businesses. Constant notifications, automatic reproduction of content and other functions are no coincidence. They are designed to prolong the time of permanence of users. Families have responsibilities…
Psychologists said the changes were a symbolic victory, but warned that their effectiveness could be limited. Psychologists and children’s advocates celebrated on Wednesday the news of the historic agreement on lawsuits in which it was alleged that Meta, the social media giant, had harmed users [...]
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