Threads Users Locked Out Over False 'Under 13' Detection: Meta Confirms Technical Glitch

(Central News Agency reporter Wu Jia-Hao, Taipei, 15th) Meta's social platform Threads experienced an unexpected account suspension incident today, with some adult users receiving system notifications stating their accounts were locked due to being 'under 13 years old.' The issue affected various users, including creators, media professionals, and political figures. Meta released a statement today confirming that a technical error caused a small number of accounts to be incorrectly flagged as belonging to users under 13, and the company is actively addressing the issue and working to restore access as quickly as possible.

According to Meta's current policy, all users must be at least 13 years old to use its platforms. The company has built-in protective mechanisms for 'teen accounts,' which automatically restrict who can contact teens and what content teens can view.

Additionally, Meta is currently developing new technology that will enable the system to proactively detect whether an account belongs to a teen—even if the registered birthday indicates an adult—so appropriate age-based protections can be applied in the future.

For community environment management, Meta primarily combines human review with technology to detect and remove accounts that violate its policies. It also provides an appeal process; if an account is confirmed to have been mistakenly removed, it will be restored.

Users who find their accounts disabled will see a notification when attempting to log in, and can directly click 'Request Review' or 'Appeal' within the app to submit a review request. During the review process, users may be required to provide government-issued identification to verify their identity. If the review determines the removal was erroneous, Meta will reinstate the account. (Edited by Zhang Liang-Zhi) 1150615