Instagram said on Thursday that it is testing additional alternatives for users to verify their age on the site, with people in the United States being the first to try out these new options.
Instagram said on Thursday that it is testing additional alternatives for users to verify their age on the site, with people in the United States being the first to try out these new options. In addition to letting users upload digital copies of their identification documents, the photo-sharing site that is owned by Meta Platforms Inc. has announced that it is testing two additional methods that may be used to verify a person’s age.
“When we know if someone is a teen (13-17 years), we provide them with age-appropriate experiences,” Erica Finkle, director of data governance at Meta, said in a blog post. “These experiences include defaulting them into private accounts, preventing unwanted contact from adults they don’t know, and limiting the options advertisers have to reach them with ads.”
Instagram has announced that it has formed a partnership with Yoti, a firm that specialises in providing users with online age verification services, in order to protect the privacy of its users.
Users may verify their age by uploading a video of themselves taking a selfie, after which Yoti’s algorithm will estimate their age based on the attributes of their face. According to Instagram’s statement, after the user’s age has been validated, both Meta and Yoti will erase the photograph.
People also have the option of choosing three mutual followers to vouch for each other in order to authenticate a user’s age; however, the person doing the vouching must be at least 18 years old.
This decision was made after Instagram temporarily halted the launch of Instagram Kids in December of last year in response to widespread backlash and disagreement to the initiative.
It was publicised that joining Instagram Kids would require parental consent and that it would feature ad-free, age-appropriate material; nevertheless, US politicians and advocacy organisations pushed the firm to abandon its launch plans, citing safety concerns.