Meta Uses AI to Scan Users' Bone Structure for Age Detection

Revolutionary Technology Meets Growing Legal Pressure

Facebook and Instagram are now using artificial intelligence to analyze users' bone structure and height in photos and videos to detect underage accounts, marking a significant escalation in age verification technology. The company's AI scans for "general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age" without identifying specific individuals .

"We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Meta stated, emphasizing that their "AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate someone's general age; it does not identify the specific person in the image" . The system is part of Meta's strengthened efforts to identify and remove users under 13 from its platforms .

This visual analysis works alongside existing detection methods that scan posts, captions, bios, and comments for signals like school references or birthday mentions . If an account is flagged as potentially underage, it gets deactivated , and users may need to verify their age through ID upload or facial age verification to regain access.

Legal Battle Drives Innovation

The announcement comes just days after a landmark legal defeat for Meta in New Mexico. A New Mexico jury ruled in March that Meta willfully violated the state's unfair practices act, ordering the company to pay $375 million based on the number of offenses . The case centered on allegations that Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms .

The stakes are getting higher. New Mexico's Attorney General's office is now seeking "approximately $3.7 billion in abatement costs as well as injunctive relief," including extensive changes to how Meta provides services in the state . Prosecutors are targeting app features linked to compulsive use such as "infinite scroll," push notifications, and default settings that show tallies for "likes" and sharing .

Meta has vowed to appeal the jury verdict and warned that it could eliminate service in New Mexico entirely if forced to comply with impractical mandates and multibillion-dollar remedies . The case is the first to reach trial among lawsuits filed by more than 40 state attorneys general on allegations that Meta contributes to a youth mental health crisis .

Global Expansion and Teen Account Protections

Meta is expanding its teen detection technology on Instagram across the EU and Brazil, while also bringing it to Facebook in the US for the first time . The system has grown to at least 54 million active Teen Accounts globally , which come with built-in restrictions designed to create safer online experiences for younger users.

Teen Accounts feature stricter content controls, block messages from strangers, and prevent users under 16 from livestreaming . The company is also expanding systems to detect teens who may have listed an adult age and automatically place them into Teen Account protections, pushing more suspected teen users into safer, age-appropriate settings by default .

The technology raises questions about privacy and accuracy that will likely intensify as more countries consider age restrictions on social media. It remains to be seen how accurate these systems will be at scale or how users will respond to automated age enforcement . As regulatory pressure mounts globally, Meta's bone structure analysis represents both a technological breakthrough and a defensive strategy in an increasingly complex battle over children's digital safety.