Just days after Meta announced its plans to use public content from European users to train its artificial intelligence following a suspension last year, the company is now showing a keen interest in AI for another matter…

On Monday, April 21, Meta released a statement discussing its use of AI to combat underage social media usage. While the company aims to promote social media usage among teenagers, it also seeks to differentiate their profiles from those of adults.

This update follows a previous announcement in September, where Instagram had already started implementing accounts specifically designed for teenagers.

Meta Intensifies Monitoring of Underage Users

Although a date of birth is required when setting up an account on Facebook or Instagram, it is not uncommon for some teenagers to use a false date. With an increase in content primarily aimed at adults, Meta has often been criticized for not adequately moderating the content that is published.

By utilizing artificial intelligence, Meta claims it can now identify teenagers based on specific behaviors and restrict access for those recognized as minors.

Automatic Content Restrictions

With the deployment of artificial intelligence to detect accounts held by minors, Instagram ensures that the content available on its platform will be limited, as will certain features.

Moreover, teenagers under the age of 16 will not be able to modify these settings on their own; they will need parental permission to bypass these restrictions. To facilitate this, Meta plans to develop new features that give parents the ability to manage their children’s accounts.

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The enhancement of these controls through artificial intelligence is significant, especially coming just months after Meta lifted moderation on its social networks. Additionally, with Instagram and Facebook losing traction among younger users, this move might be the beginning of a new strategy for Meta…

A Major Leap Towards AI

Although Instagram had already been using artificial intelligence to monitor user accounts, as confirmed by TechCrunch, this new announcement is no coincidence…

Given the active competition from companies like OpenAI and Google Gemini in the AI sector, Meta is determined to carve out a niche for itself in this field. By increasing its focus on AI initiatives, Mark Zuckerberg’s company is gradually preparing to compete directly with the major players with Meta AI…