Instagram releases age verification with video or ID proof in Europe

Instagram users who want to change their age from under 18 to over 18 must from now on also verify their age in Europe. Such users can either upload a photo of an ID or record and send a ‘video selfie’.

The verification process has already been rolled out in the United States and is now also applicable in Europe. For now, the requirement only applies to users who want to change their age from under 18 to over 18. When creating a new account, a user can simply specify a date of birth of their choice.

The video verification is done in collaboration with the company Yoti, which estimates how old a user is based on submitted images. The company is according to Meta independently verified as a trusted age verification provider. The German Youth Protection Media Commission, among others, uses the company’s services. No facial recognition software would be used to estimate a submitter’s age and the images would be deleted immediately if Yoti shared an age estimate with Meta.

Instagram has a minimum age of 13 years when creating a new account. “In some countries,” the social media also limits the type of content that teens between the ages of 13 and 17 can see. For example, such accounts are set to private by default, adult-initiated communication is restricted and certain advertisements are not shown.