Instagram will now require all new users to verify their age in a bid to block underage usage. The minimum age requirement on the image-led social media platform will now be 13-years of age.
The move aims to help Instagram comply with a US law that requires social media platforms to require all users to be at least 13.
“Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” the company said in a blog about the new rule.
The company said that age information would not be visible to any other people on Instagram, however that data would be used by the platform to ensure “age-appropriate and safer experiences”.
Instagram has yet to mention exactly how it will police this policy. Young people can always provide false information, for example, by lying about their age on the sign-up page.
The announcement came just a day after TechCrunch published an article detailing how Instagram did not follow the same example as many of its social media peers and even check the age of users. By not asking, that puts Instagram in peril of violating the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.
The also stated that Facebook and Instagram did employ moderators who could lock the accounts of any users it suspected of being underage.
