Archive · 27 Aug 2026
New Teen Safety Measures Coming to Instagram and Facebook
Instagram and Facebook are adding new safety rules for teenagers.
The rules are meant for users between 13 and 17 years old.
Some children say they are older when they create accounts.
Meta is using artificial intelligence to estimate a user’s likely age.
If someone says they are an adult but appears to be a teenager, the safety restrictions may turn on automatically.
Children under 13 are not allowed to have these accounts.
Meta says it will improve its systems to find and remove accounts belonging to younger children.
The big question is whether children can still get around these checks.
Meta plans new safety restrictions for Instagram and Facebook users aged 13 to 17.
AI tools assess whether users who claim to be adults are likely teenagers.
Detected teen accounts will automatically receive the applicable restrictions.
Children may bypass safeguards by lying about their age when creating accounts.
Meta says it will strengthen technology to identify and remove accounts belonging to users under 13.
- Who
- Meta, the company that operates Instagram and Facebook, and users of those platforms.
- What
- New teen safety restrictions and stronger age-detection measures are being introduced.
- When
- The measures are coming; the articles also say age-detection tools have been adopted in recent years.
- Where
- On Instagram and Facebook.
- Why
- To apply protections to teenage users and detect accounts belonging to children under 13.
Meta’s safeguards
Concerns about workarounds
Effectiveness of age checks
Meta’s safeguards
Meta is using AI to identify users who claim to be adults but are likely between 13 and 17, allowing teen restrictions to be applied automatically.
Concerns about workarounds
Children often lie about their age when opening accounts, creating a way to evade age-based protections.
Protecting younger children
Meta’s safeguards
Meta says it will improve its technology to detect and remove accounts belonging to users under 13.
Concerns about workarounds
The need for stronger detection reflects the challenge of identifying accounts when users provide inaccurate ages.
- Platforms
- Instagram and Facebook
- Teenage group
- Users aged 13 to 17
- Age detection
- AI tools estimate a user’s likely age
- Automatic action
- Restrictions are implemented when an account claiming to belong to an adult is identified as belonging to a teenager
- Minimum age
- Users under 13 are prohibited
- Company commitment
- Meta says it will invest in stronger technology to detect and remove under-13 accounts
- Challenge
- Children often lie about their age when creating social-media accounts