Instagram using AI to detect Canadian teens signed up for adult accounts

The Instagram logo is seen on a cellphone in Boston, USA, Oct. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

By Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

Posted September 22, 2025 2:00 am.

Instagram is testing artificial intelligence in Canada that will identify accounts it suspects belong to teens, even if they list an adult birthday.

The platform’s AI model will be trained on information including the dates accounts were created and interactions they had with other profiles and content.

Because people in the same age group tend to interact similarly with certain types of content, the data will help the model make calculations about how likely users are to be an adult or a teen.

If Instagram suspects a teen of trying to deceive the company with an adult birthday, the platform will place the user in a teen account.

Instagram began placing teens last year into accounts that limit who can contact them, how much time they spend on the service and what content they see.

It previously caught users lying about their age, when they input an adult birthdate after initially registering a teen birthdate but later inputted an adult one, or when they reported an adult age but then got birthday wishes showing they’re a minor.

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