Social media companies are trying harder to know which users are kids

Determining which accounts belong to children is the linchpin of online child safety measures that Meta, Google, TikTok, Roblox and other companies are ramping up as public and regulatory sentiment increasingly turns against them

'Of the child safety measures agreed to in Meta's landmark legal settlement , no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance — and for good reason. No matter how well the protections work, they are of little use if Meta can't tell which users are kids.

Determining which accounts belong to children is also the linchpin of child safety measures that other companies, including Google, TikTok, and Roblox, are ramping up as public and regulatory sentiment turns against them in the U.S. and other countries .

The Meta settlement — with protections the company says could become industry standards — will give the social media giant a year to refine its approach. But the options are limited, and improving age verification technology presents steep challenges, including navigating privacy implications not just for children but for adults who could have to prove they are over 18.

The $18 billion settlement resolves claims from state attorneys general that it hurt children's mental health by deliberately designing its Instagram and Facebook platforms in ways that hooked young people’s attention. The agreement announced last week with the Menlo Park, California, company involves 48 states plus the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

In the offline world, people use government-issued IDs to prove they are over 18 or 21, whether they want to get into a club or buy cigarettes. While this technically works online too, many people are not comfortable giving a Big Tech company like Meta or Google access to their driver's license or passport.

Meta accepts IDs to check ages, and promises to delete them within 30 days. Beyond IDs, though, a growing number of tech companies are using artificial intelligence to try to determine users' ages. This is not true age verification. While AI can estimate a person's age, often accurately, it can't verify a person's birth date.

Last year, Google began using an age-assurance system for YouTube that relies on AI to differentiate between adults and minors based on their watch histories. Meta does the same.

AI age checks use clues to determine how old someone is. On Instagram, this includes “contextual clues” such as posts about birthday celebrations or school, and things like which posts people like, comment or linger on, who their friends are, as well as the times of day they log in.