Meta Will Use AI to Identify Under 18s Using Social Media in Australia

The move comes ahead of Australia’s social media ban for under 16s, which Albanese will discuss on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The logo of the social network Instagram is seen on a smartphone, on Sept. 28, 2020. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

Meta will now be using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect teenagers using its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook.

The move comes ahead of Australia’s “world first” social media ban for under-16s, which comes into effect on Dec. 10.

In an updated statement on Sept. 21 (U.S. time), Meta revealed they had expanded AI technology to Australia, Canada, and the UK.

“People in these countries that we suspect to be under 18, even if they list an adult birthday, will be placed in Teen Account settings, with built-in protections around who can contact them and the content that they see,” Meta said.

Meta will still enable individuals to modify their settings to avoid mistakes.

“We’re taking steps to ensure our technology is accurate and that we are correctly placing teens we identify into protective, age-appropriate settings, but in case we make a mistake, we’re giving people the option to change their settings,” the company said.

In April, Meta announced they were beginning to use AI technology in the United States to find suspected teens on its platforms.

“We’ve been encouraged by the response we’ve seen since that announcement. For example, we’ve seen many in our industry announce their own efforts to estimate the age of their users and place them in age-appropriate settings,” Meta said.

Meta also found that more than nine out of every 10 active teen accounts on Instagram kept the safeguards in place that filter out unwanted content.

“Based on the success of these updates in the U.S., we will expand testing to the UK, Canada, and Australia, starting today,” it said.

Meta originally launched teen accounts in 2024 to help provide parents with peace of mind that the correct protections were safeguarding their children.

Meta also noted that parents reported finding teen accounts useful. Globally, there are 54 million active teen accounts, with 97 percent of teens maintaining these protections.

The company acknowledged that parents wish to take a “more active role” in their teenagers’ online experiences. To support this, Meta will issue notifications to parents in Australia.

World-First Ban Touted at UN Conference

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is planning to talk about the social media ban on the sidelines while in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

“I want to see a greater recognition from countries who are having a look at what Australia has done, the leadership we’re providing and are either considering or are definitely joining in,” Albanese told Sky News Australia.

Albanese noted leaders from the European Union would be at the meeting and lauded Australia’s leadership credentials on social media.

“So, people such as the Greek leader, [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis, will be there, the European Union, [President] Ursula von der Leyen, will be there as well. This will be an important event where Australia is showing leadership, but this isn’t an issue that’s confined to Australia,” Albanese said.

“Parents around the world are concerned about the impact that social media is having on their young ones. And no parent should face the loss of a young child. That unfortunately has happened not just in Australia, but has happened in other jurisdictions as well.”

Social Media Ban Guidelines

Meta’s move comes after Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant released new regulatory guidelines for the Australian social media ban.

eSafety said they would not ask platforms to “verify the age of all users.”

“Blanket age verification may be considered unreasonable, especially if existing data can infer age reliably,” Inman Grant said.

The guidance did not rule out digital ID use, although it did note tech companies had to provide alternative methods of identification.

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh flagged concerns that digital ID could still be a possibility.