Instagram, which recently brought in new features to make things safer for youngsters on the platform, is taking more steps in that direction. It will now ask the users who’ve not previously entered their date of birth to do so in the app. This will help “create safer, more private experiences for young people” on Instagram. Those not complying will lose access to the platform.
But don't plan to cheat. For, Instagram will know. Or so it says.
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Prompts to share birthday will be insistent
At the time of log-in, users will be prompted to add their respective birthdays in case they haven't already. Apparently, there'll be many prompts to enter the birthday before users are locked out of their account.
Explaining the rationale behind such a demand from it, Instagram said in a blog post, "This information also allows us to personalize your experience, for example, we can apply recent changes we made to restrict advertiser targeting options for audiences under the age of 18, to more people. It also helps us show you more relevant ads."
It also said this info helps in crating new safety features for young people, and provide the right experiences to the right age group.
Recent changes that Instagram has brought about include preventing adults from sending messages to people under 18 who don’t follow them, and making default new accounts belonging to people under the age of 16 into a private setting.
But you can't lie and get away
Instagram will also flash warnings on age-sensitive posts. These warnings aren’t new, as they were previously seen on sensitive or graphic posts. But now users will have to provide their birthday in order to see them if they had not already shared it.
But beware, users can't get away by giving false info. Instagram will put to use artificial intelligence to estimate how old people are based on a variety of things. "In the future, if someone tells us they’re above a certain age, and our technology tells us otherwise, we’ll show them a menu of options to verify their age," it said.
