The social network Instagram is going to start showing notices to all those users who have not yet shared their date of birth with the app. In a very short time, you will have to share your date of birth with Instagram if you want to continue using the social network.
In a post on Facebook’s official blog, the company has shared its plans, through which it aims to make the social network a safer place for young people. And one of the measures will be to know the birthday of all users of the platform, to be able to moderate the content in a more appropriate way for each type of audience.
Instagram will show warnings to add the date of birth
According to Facebook, the date of birth will be used to create new security tools aimed at the social network’s younger audience. Just a few months ago, a restriction on direct messages was introduced, preventing those over 18 from contacting minors.
They also plan to control the type of ads that appear on the social network depending on the age of each user, so that advertising is more appropriate.
To carry out all these measures, Instagram will ask users to add their date of birth, at the moment they open the application. According to the social network, this notice “will appear a handful of times”, and, if it reaches the point where the user has decided not to share this information, they will not be able to continue using Instagram until the birth date is entered.
In addition, for those posts with sensitive or graphic content, the date of birth will also be requested to be able to view their content.
Of course, Instagram is aware that users could use fictitious birth dates to bypass the restrictions. In that sense, they explain that they are developing tools based on artificial intelligence, capable of determining the approximate age of users based on certain aspects, such as the content they share on their birthdays within the social network. In case of differences between the estimated age and the age provided by the user, verification will be requested.
