Technology Desk: Tech giant Meta has taken major action against more than 7 lakh Instagram and Facebook accounts. The company has deactivated accounts that it suspected were being run by users under 16 years of age. This action has been taken under Australia's new and strict social media age restriction law.
According to data released by Meta, between December and June, the company deactivated about 4 lakh 62 thousand suspicious underage accounts on Instagram and about 2 lakh 94 thousand suspicious underage accounts on Facebook. That means overall action was taken on more than 7 lakh 56 thousand accounts. This action has been taken in Australia.
Action taken on almost double the accounts as compared to January
The recent action on the meta is much bigger than before. According to Reuters report, in January the company had removed about 3 lakh 31 thousand accounts of Instagram and about 1 lakh 73 thousand accounts of Facebook. In this way, action was taken on a total of about 5 lakh 4 thousand accounts at that time.
Now the number of accounts deactivated between December and June has increased to more than 7.5 lakh. Meta says that the process of identifying and removing accounts is still going on, so this figure may increase further.
Ban on children under 16 years of age in Australia
A new law regarding social media has come into effect in Australia from December 10. Under this, children below 16 years of age are not allowed to create and run accounts on social media platforms.
The reason behind this law is concern about the online safety of children and the possible effects of social media on their physical and mental health. The government wants social media companies to ensure that children under 16 years of age cannot use these platforms.
How is Meta identifying underage users?
To identify underage users, Meta does not rely solely on the date of birth recorded in the account. The company says that it is analyzing different signs related to age with the help of Artificial Intelligence i.e. AI and other advanced systems.
These signals may include the user's profile and activities. For example, the system may check whether a post or profile contains information related to birthday, school, class, or grade.
Additionally, reports from other users can also be a clue in the age identification process. By combining these different information, Meta is trying to find out whether a user is under 16 years of age.
It is difficult to create an account again after deleting the account.
Meta has not limited its action to just deactivating suspected underage accounts. The company has also imposed additional restrictions for such users, so that they cannot immediately return to the platform by creating a new account after the account is deleted due to underage.
The company says its goal is to fulfill its responsibilities under Australian law and provide an age-appropriate online experience for underage users.
Government and regulator keep an eye on Meta
This action of Meta is taking place at a time when the Australian government is investigating the age-verification system of social media companies. The country's internet regulator is also looking at whether the platforms are taking adequate steps to keep children below 16 years of age away from social media.
Initially Meta had opposed this law of Australia. However, after the implementation of the law, the company has made changes in its system to comply with it and is now in the process of identifying underage accounts and deactivating them.
Meta said it supports the Australian Government's goal of keeping young people safe online and is meeting its responsibilities under the law.
Increased emphasis on use of AI
The most important aspect in this whole matter is Meta's AI based age detection system. The company is using many signals from user activities on social media. Its purpose is to identify cases where the user has not stated his actual age or has entered an incorrect date of birth in the account.
It is also clear from Meta's action that regulatory pressure is increasing on social media companies regarding minor users. After the implementation of Australia's new law, platforms are having to make their age verification and security systems more stringent.
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