In an effort to better protect the youngest members of its community, Instagram is rolling out a handful of updates—including age verification.
The social network now requires new users to enter their date of birth when creating an account—be it personal, business, or a domesticated animal.
You must be at least 13 years old to have an account in most countries. Which means anyone born after this (or any subsequent) date in 2006 need not apply.
“Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer, and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” the company wrote in a blog post.
According to Instagram’s Terms of Use, you must be at least 13 years old to have an account in most countries (via Instagram)
Or does it?
There is, of course, a simple workaround: All it takes is the addition or subtraction of a few days or years, and even a savvy seven-year-old can access all the filtered-photo feeds they want.
Your listed birthday, though not visible to others, can be found in private account information.
By connecting an existing Facebook profile to Instagram, the family firms will automatically extrapolate your date of birth—which when edited on Facebook also changes on Instagram.
Moving forward, the content-sharing platform will use birthday information “to create more tailored experiences,” the social media site said.
But don’t get too excited: Those new “experiences” include education around account controls and recommended privacy settings for young people.”
Allow only people you follow to message and add you to group threads (via Instagram)
Instagram is also taking steps to let users control who slides into their DMs.
The upcoming feature would let folks choose to allow only accounts they follow to message and add them to group threads.
“People who enable this setting will no longer receive messages, group message requests, or story replies from anyone they have not chosen to follow,” according to the blog.
This sounds suspiciously like a parental control for children. But also a nice perk for adults who are sick of unsolicited dick pics and overzealous stans.
“These newest updates are part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring Instagram remains a safe and supportive place,” the platform said. “Especially for the youngest people in our community.”
More on Geek.com:
- PSA: Don’t Change Your Twitter Birthday to 2007
- UK Abandons Controversial Porn Age Checks
- Instagrammers Are Sunning Their Naked Butts
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