Instagram Tests 2 New Ways to Verify Your Age
Instagram is testing two new methods for people to verify their age.
Starting in the US, if someone edits their date of birth from under 18 to 18 or older, the social network will require them to use the existing method of uploading a photo ID, or pick between the new options of recording a video selfie, or asking friends for confirmation before accepting the change.
"We're testing this so we can make sure teens and adults are in the right experience for their age group," according to a company blog post(Opens in a new window).
Users must be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram, but they may also have little or no ID to help prove that. "As an industry, we have to explore novel ways to approach the dilemma of verifying someone's age when they don't have an ID," Instagram said.
When opting to use a video selfie for verification, you'll be met with on-screen instructions for recording one. An image of your face (and nothing else) is shared with age-verifying platform and Instagram partner Yoti(Opens in a new window), which uses technology to estimate age based on facial features. Meta and Yoti then delete the image.
For social vouching, assuming you trust your mutual followers (often friends and family members), you can ask them to confirm how old you are. The person vouching must be at least 18, isn't allowed to testify for anyone else at the same time, and needs to meet Instagram's "other safeguards." Three selected people will receive a request to confirm your age and must respond within three days.
As parent company Meta pointed out, though, it's easy for folks to misrepresent their age. Last year, the firm revealed that it uses artificial intelligence and a tween-age experience(Opens in a new window) to
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