The age verification system has been summer tested in the US, and has now been rolled out in the EU and UK. Instagram’s parent company Meta teamed up with artificial intelligence firm Yoti for an audit.

The system is simple: users upload photos, which are judged by artificial intelligence. The system is trained with thousands of photos of people of all ages and origins, so the system can match all types of facial features with age. According to Meta, these checks are carried out completely anonymously and shared selfies will be deleted afterwards. The Yoti system is strictly not facial recognition, says Meta.

ID scanning is paused

Previously in the testing phase, users could also request that their age be confirmed by a friend’s account over the age of 18. That option has now been removed from the testing phase, while Meta is making “some adjustments”. However, it is still possible to upload a photo of an identity document instead of a selfie video.

The system now only asks for a selfie if a minor user changes their age to the age of majority. The minimum age to use Instagram is 13 years. The new system should prevent children from circumventing the restrictions that the app imposes on young users. There are various restrictions for Instagram users between the ages of 13 and 18. For example, new accounts from young people under 16 years old set to private by default. Instagram also turns on the option for users under 16 by default which makes them less ‘sensitive’ images displayed.

Concerns about impact on children

Instagram has come under fire for years because the app is said to have a negative impact on children’s self-image. Criticism increased last year after leaking from an internal report, which found that one in three girls who suffer from low self-esteem partly blames Instagram.

Instagram decided last year after a planned storm of criticism Kids version of Instagram to delay. Measures were also taken to improve the safety of young people on the platform. That’s it for adults made more difficult to send chat messages to underage users.