Delhi: Meta owned platform, Instagram is endeavouring to make the platform a safer space for all its users and experimenting with new features, In a similar vein, the social media service has brought its new test for users to verify their age via an original ID or video selfie to India, amid growing worries that kids are using fake dates of birth to create profiles on social media platforms. Such trials have already started in US and now is being expanded to Brazil and India as well.Also Read – Meta Added To Russia's List Of 'Extremist And Terrorist' Organisations
If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18, or over, in India, the company will now require them to verify their age using one of two options: upload their ID or record a video selfie, reported news agency IANS. Also Read – 8 Crore Creators in India But Only 1.5 Lakh Able to Earn; most Make Just Rs 16K a Month
The company plans to expand the test to the UK and the EU before the end of the year. Also Read – Facebook Identifies 400 Malicious Android and iOS Apps Stealing Company's Data: Full List Here
INSTAGRAM AGE VERIFCATION FEATURE
- If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18, or over, in India, the company will now require them to verify their age using one of two options: upload their ID or record a video selfie.
- If you choose this option, you’ll see instructions on your screen to guide you.
- According to Instagram, after the person takes a video selfie, the image will be shared with Yoti, a technology to estimates age based on facial features. Yoti is a company that offers privacy-preserving ways to verify age.
- Meta and Yoti then delete the image. The technology cannot recognize user’s identity but just the age.
Earlier Instagram had a n option called the Social Vouching that allowed users to ask mutual followers to confirm how old they were. The three people they selected to vouch for them received a request to confirm their age and needed to respond within three days. Now, those part of the test can choose to upload a video selfie to verify their age in India.
According to IANS, report, Instagram will also remove Social Vouching as an option to verify age from the test to make some improvements.
The company requires people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram.
Earlier this week, the UK’s media watchdog Ofcom said that more than one-third of children between age 8 and 17 are using various social media platforms after signing up with fake dates of birth.
“Our latest research shows that most (77 per cent) social media users aged between eight and 17 have their own account or profile on at least one of the large social media platforms,” Ofcom said in a statement.