Meta to expand tech safeguards for teens in Europe, US Facebook users

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

BRUSSELS, May 5 : Meta Platforms will expand safeguards for teen accounts to 27 European Union countries and to Facebook in the United States, the U.S. tech giant said on Tuesday, as it comes under pressure from regulators to better protect young people online.

Tech companies broadly are facing a challenge from authorities worldwide to come up with better age-checking measures over mounting concerns about online abuse, teen mental health and the spread of AI-generated child sexual images.

European countries are widely pushing to clamp down on teen access to social media, while on Monday the U.S. state of New Mexico asked a judge to declare Meta a public nuisance, fine it $3.7 billion and overhaul its platforms to protect young users.

Meta last year rolled out technology to proactively find accounts it suspects to be teens, even if they list an adult birthday, and place them in Teen Account protections.

CNA Games

Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time

Buzzword
Create words using the given letters

Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser

Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge

Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less

"This technology will be expanded to 27 countries in the European Union. Meta is also expanding this technology to Facebook in the United States for the first time, with the UK and EU to follow in June," the company said in a blogpost.

It also detailed its use of advanced artificial intelligence to detect underage accounts beyond simple admissions of age.

This includes using AI technology to analyze entire profiles for contextual clues to determine if an account likely belongs to someone underage and strengthening circumvention measures to prevent new accounts from users Meta suspects are underage.

Newsletter

Week in Review

Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review

Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

Sign up for our newsletters

Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox

Subscribe here

Get the CNA app

Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories

Download here

Get WhatsApp alerts

Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app

Join here