Imagine a world where your kids can’t join social media until they’re old enough to understand the online dangers that come with it. Sounds like a utopia, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the reality – but Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is taking steps to make it a little closer to home.
Meta is rolling out a new artificial intelligence-powered tool to detect and deactivate accounts belonging to minors on its social platforms. This move comes in response to growing concerns about online safety, particularly when it comes to children. According to a recent report, nearly 60% of kids aged 13-17 have lied about their age to join social media, and one in five kids have been contacted online by a stranger.
The AI-powered tool will use a combination of machine learning and human review to identify underage accounts and verify users’ ages. Once an account is flagged, a human moderator will review the account and either confirm or deny the user’s age. If the account is deemed to belong to a minor, it will be deactivated. This is a significant shift from Meta’s previous approach, which relied heavily on users reporting suspicious accounts.