Meta will launch an Instagram service for users under 16 in Hong Kong and the rest of the Asia-Pacific this week, with the international technology company saying the new system will require a parent or guardian to oversee their child’s account.
“Starting this week, we’ll begin placing teens who sign up for Instagram into teen accounts, and we’ll notify teens already using Instagram about these changes so we can begin moving them into teen accounts in the coming months,” Head of Instagram at Meta, Adam Mosseri, said on Tuesday morning.
The feature has already been launched in some parts of the world, including in Australia, the United States and Canada since September last year.
The new protections require a parent or guardian to be assigned as an account handler, allowing adults to oversee their children’s online interactions, content consumption and time spent on the platform.
Mosseri acknowledged the ongoing challenge of age verification, admitting the platform was still seeking ways to prevent teens from falsifying their age.
“It depends on the jurisdiction. There are a number of different ways we try to verify age … none of them are foolproof,” Mosseri said, citing methods like ID uploads and face detection and emphasising the company’s focus on collaborating with operating systems to improve verification.
