Instagram mandates age verification tool in a bid to screen sensitive content for children

On Monday, August 30, 2021, Instagram announced that it will start prompting users to reveal their date of births to the platform. While the prompts can initially be dismissed, they will keep showing to a point where a user who has not entered the date of birth would not be able to use the platform. By implementing the change, Instagram wants to know the age of users on the platform and prevent inappropriate content from being recommended to younger users. 

Instagram Age verification will help personalize ads, prevent inappropriate content recommendations for young users

According to the Instagram official blog post, user's age would allow the social media platform to create new and improved safety features for young users of the platform. It might imply that Instagram would recommend content, optimize explore sections and deploy other features according to the age group of the user, providing the "right experience to the right age group." The blog post by Pavni Diwanji also mentions a recent example wherein Instagram made changes to the platform in order to prevent adults from sending DMs to users who are under 18 years of age and do not follow them. In July 2021, Instagram also set new accounts with users under 16 years of age to a private viewership. Knowing the age of users will also allow the platform to show relevant ads by restricting advertiser targeting options. 

The platform has also implemented two changes for people who have not submitted their birthdays. Firstly, Instagram will ask users for their birthday as soon as they open the application. The app will show notifications a couple of times, and if the user has not provided the information "by a certain point," they would not be able to use the social media application, on the grounds that it is necessary for implementing the new security features being developed. Secondly, the app will display warning screens on posts that are graphic or sensitive, asking for the user's birthday before displaying the post. While Instagram was not asking for birthdays while doing such posts, it will do it from now. 

Instagram is also developing new systems and machine learning technology to verify the age as told by a user, addressing fake age submission by some users. Using "artificial intelligence to estimate how old people are based on things like birthday posts," Instagram will provide users with several age verification methods if the age estimated by them and that entered by the user differs. Concluding their blog post, Instagram says that "We hope this explains why we’re starting to ask some people for their birthday, and why it is so important for our efforts to provide safer, more private experiences for young people. For more information, head to our Help Center."