Meta Scans Kids' Bones to Kick Them Off Instagram
Meta deploys AI that analyzes bone structure and height to spot under-13 users — but insists it's not facial recognition.
Meta has rolled out AI-powered age detection on Facebook and Instagram that scans users' bone structure, height, and other visual cues to identify children under 13. The company is adamant about one thing: this is not facial recognition.
"We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition," Facebook stated. The system apparently relies on physical attributes and visual signals rather than mapping individual faces to identities.
The distinction matters legally and optically. Facial recognition carries heavy regulatory baggage and public suspicion. By framing this as structural analysis rather than identity matching, Meta sidesteps some of that scrutiny.
Still, the technology raises obvious questions. Analyzing bone structure and body proportions from photos or video is biometric processing by any reasonable definition. Whether regulators and privacy advocates accept Meta's semantic distinction remains to be seen.