Instagram introduces new age verification tools

The Instagram development team has officially announced the launch of tests for two new methods of user age certification, which are aimed primarily at young users preparing for adulthood.

More specifically, young users in the US who wish to change their date of birth to emphasize that they have reached the age of 18 must complete one of the three available methods. The first of these is the posting of their identity, which is checked by the relevant Instagram department and then permanently deleted from the Meta servers.

One of the two new certification methods puts into play a new Artificial Intelligence algorithm developed in collaboration with Yoti. The latter emphasizes that it deals purely with the certification of age and not with the identification of the user. To check, the user must upload a video-selfie which is then sent to Yoti to do its magic with its algorithm. The company states that AI has a 99.65% accuracy rate in recognizing users aged 13 to 17, but also 98.91% in identifying users aged 6 to 11.

The second new method (and the third in total) also involves the user's followers. The latter essentially asks 3 of his followers to guarantee his age, but the latter must be certified adult users who do not participate in any other certification process. Once selected, the user is informed about the process and has 72 hours to guarantee his age.

New age certification methods have already been activated in the US and are expected to be launched worldwide in the coming days.