Adults may need to verify age as child-safety checks expand
Identifying which users are children is now the central technical challenge for child-safety measures across the social media industry, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Google, TikTok, and Roblox are expanding age-identification systems as part of that work, the AP reported.
A legal settlement with Meta gives the company one year to refine its age-assurance system. The age-assurance provisions are the settlement’s most extensive commitments — “no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance,” the AP reported. The reason, according to the AP, is that protections “are of little use if Meta can’t tell which users are kids.”
Meta has indicated the settlement’s provisions could become industry standards, the AP reported. But the technical path forward is constrained. “The options are limited,” the AP wrote, “and improving age verification technology presents steep challenges.”
One set of challenges crosses age lines. Age verification carries “privacy implications not just for children but for adults who could have to prove they are over 18,” the AP reported.