With an aim to provide age-appropriate experiences, the Meta-owned instant photo sharing app has announced a new way to tackle the age issue in a better way. According to the latest update, Instagram will now require users to upload a video selfie for age verification to provide age-appropriate experiences.
Instagram has confirmed the development through a blogpost. Users will now be able to ask others to vouch for their age, or use technology that can confirm their age based on a video selfie. If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over.
The facility will start with people based in the US. This has been confirmed by the photo sharing app through a blogpost.
In addition to providing an ID, people will now be able to ask others to vouch for their age, or use technology that can confirm their age based on a video selfie. Instagram has partnered with Yoti, a company that specializes in privacy-preserving ways to verify age.
The feature is getting tested to make sure teens and adults are getting the right experience appropriate for their age group. In 2019, Instagram started asking people to provide their age when signing up for Instagram to provide appropriate experiences to different age groups, specifically teens.
People must be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram. In some countries, minimum age is higher to use Instagram.
Testing new ways to verify age
In addition to having someone upload their ID, Instagram is testing two new ways to verify a person’s age:
Video Selfie: Users can choose to upload a video selfie to verify their age. Once you select the video selfie option, instructions will appear on your screen to guide you. After taking the video selfie, the image will be shared with Yoti and Yoti’s technology will estimate users’ age based on their facial features. After verifying the age Yeti will share the share the estimate with Meta. T
Social Vouching: Mutual followers will be asked to confirm your age if you opt for social vouching option. One person can vouch just one person at one time and the one who is vouching must be at least 18 years old. You need to select three people to vouch for you.
Users will still be able to upload their ID to verify their age with forms of identification such as a driver’s license or ID card.
From time-to-time, Instagram has been updating its feature to ensure a smooth experience for its users. Earlier, Instagram introduced AMBER alerts to help find missing children, New Tools and Resources for Parents and Teens in VR.
Also, Read Here: Instagram: How to hide and delete unwanted posts on your feed
Earlier, Instagram also announced updates to the Sensitive Content Control feature launched last year. Users will now be able to control the amount of sensitive content they see on the platform.
The Sensitive Content Control feature will now cover all surfaces “where we make recommendations,” confirmed Instagram. In addition to Explore, users will now be able to control the amount of sensitive content and accounts they see in Search, Reels, Accounts users Might Follow, Hashtag Pages and In-Feed Recommendations.
“With this update, Instagram is also applying the technology they use to enforce their Recommendation Guidelines to Instagram’s recommendations on Search and Hashtag pages.
The Sensitive Content Control has three options, which Instagram has renamed from when it first introduced the control to help explain what each option does. The three options are: “More”, “Standard” and “Less”.