S'pore Instagram users suspected to be underage to have app features restricted

Instagram accounts belonging to users under 18 years old in Singapore will experience more restrictive settings by default from Jan. 21, 2025.

The changes were first rolled out in the United States and Britain in late 2024.

They will be progressively pushed to users in Asia.

This move comes amidst a global clean-up of accounts belonging to users who have lied about their age, as the long-standing practice previously was to declare one's age to sign up for an account.

There has been growing pressure in recent times to protect children online, particularly from addiction, cyberbullying and harmful content.

The change is also implemented to stop the reliance on age declarations as the main way of telling a user’s age, said Tara Hopkins, Meta’s Global Director of Public Policy for Instagram and Threads.

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously faced criticism in 2023 when state attorneys accused his company of getting children hooked on its apps without mitigating its risks.

Changes to expect

Provide identification

Those suspected to be underage will be asked to provide photo identification or submit a video selfie to confirm their age.

If users cannot prove their age, Instagram’s Teen Account settings will kick in.

Made invisible to strangers

Underage users will be invisible to strangers and receive messages only from people they follow.

Curated feeds

The feeds of teen accounts will not display content of people fighting, violent movie scenes, sensitive content, as well as those promoting cosmetic procedures.

Checks on user's age

Instagram uses a real-time facial scanning technology developed by age verification tech company Yoti, even though it is not perfect.

Meta can also check for other social media accounts linked to the user’s phone number or email, Hopkins said, but declined to elaborate more.

The company is also building technology to scan for users who have misrepresented their age.

It can do so by analysing users’ profile picture and the demographic of their followers, among other indicators, Hopkins added.

Parents get control

Parents of young Instagram users can pair their account with their child’s to tweak the restrictions, so that their children's exposure to new features on the app is done under supervision.

Users under 16 will be prompted to add a parent to their account when they try to change their account privacy settings.

The account will enable parents to monitor their child’s time spent on Instagram, set screen time limits to specific periods, and send reminders regarding taking breaks from the app.

Parents can also view profile details of individuals their child has messaged and those the child has blocked on Instagram.

Parents cannot see the content but can see who their children are messaging.

Control for teenage users

One new feature allows teens between age 16 and 18 to opt out of the restrictions, as parents feel that older children should have more autonomy over the app, Hopkins said.

Teenagers who edit their age in their profile setting can be asked to verify their age by submitting ID.

Top photo via Pexels