Instagram's latest update forces new users to reveal their age
New measures designed to protect younger users amid online child sex abuse concerns
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People signing up for new Instagram accounts will now be forced to declare their age as part of a new update to the app.
The new measure is designed to protect younger users, with children under the age of 13 now blocked from signing up.
Existing users will not be questioned on their age, meaning the Facebook-owned app will turn a blind eye to anyone underage who is already using it. New users are also able to simply lie about their age in order to set up an account.
“Historically, we didn’t require people to tell us their age because we wanted Instagram to be a place where everyone can express themselves fully – irrespective of their identity,” Instagram wrote in a blog post.
“In the spirit of that decision, we won’t show people’s birthday information to others in the community.”
Instagram also said it would recommend younger users to choose stronger privacy settings to prevent strangers from contacting or following them.
Age information would “keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” the app said.
Under the US Child Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa), it is illegal for tech companies to gather data on anyone under 13. However, consumer advocacy groups claim that Facebook has consistently violated Coppa by profiting from the data collection of children.
“Tech companies like Facebook have built a business model based on harvesting, analysing, and selling massive amounts of user data, including the data of vulnerable people like children – putting all of us at risk,” Evan Greer, campaign director at US digital rights group Fight For the Future, told The Independent last year.
Beyond illegal data gathering, fears have also been raised about online child sex crimes taking place on Facebook-owned apps.
A study published this week revealed that nearly half of all online child sex abuse took place across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in 2018.
In the UK, around 1,000 of instances reported to the police took place on Instagram.
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