Meta has announced a new set of safety measures aimed at teenagers across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, including stricter content controls, expanded age-verification tools powered by artificial intelligence, and new parental alerts designed to flag potential wellbeing concerns.
The company said the updates are intended to ensure younger users are placed in age-appropriate online environments and to provide parents with greater oversight of their teens’ activity across Meta’s platforms.
According to Natasha Jog, director of public policy at Meta India, the changes reflect the company’s efforts to build age-appropriate experiences by default, including content settings for teen accounts, AI-powered age detection and additional parental supervision tools. She said: “Keeping teens safe is one of our most important priorities, and these updates from, 13-plus content settings across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, to AI-powered age detection and new parental alerts — reflect our commitment to building age-appropriate experiences by default.”
Meta said content settings for Teen Accounts, which were recently introduced in India, are now rolling out globally across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
The settings are designed to limit exposure to content deemed unsuitable for teenagers. On Facebook, the default controls will restrict inappropriate content from appearing in areas such as Feed and Reels and will limit interactions with Profiles, Pages, Groups and Events that primarily post such material.
On Messenger, the settings will restrict teens from viewing links to inappropriate Facebook content and from chatting with accounts that primarily share content considered unsuitable for their age group.
Meta said the approach was influenced by movie-rating systems and feedback from parents, with the aim of ensuring teenagers see content comparable to what would be considered appropriate in age-rated films.
The company is also expanding its use of AI to identify users who may be under the minimum age requirements for its platforms.
Meta said its systems already analyse profile information and behavioural signals, including posts, comments, biographies and captions, to estimate whether an account belongs to an underage user. The company plans to extend these checks to additional parts of its services, including Instagram Reels, Instagram Live and Facebook Groups. As part of the update, Meta is introducing visual analysis tools that can examine photos and videos for age-related indicators that may not be evident from text alone.
The company said the technology is not facial recognition and does not attempt to identify individuals. Instead, it analyses general visual characteristics, such as physical features and other contextual cues, to estimate a person’s approximate age.
Mathures Paul