Meta Expands Teen Account Protections to Facebook in EU and US

American tech giant Meta Platforms announced on Wednesday the expansion of its teen account technical safeguards to all 27 European Union member states and its implementation on the Facebook platform in the United States. This move comes as a response to growing criticism over the company''s handling of minor safety online. With increasing global pressure regarding online harassment, mental health, and the spread of AI-generated child abuse content, Meta is moving beyond self-reported ages. Last year, Meta introduced technology to proactively identify accounts likely belonging to teens, even if they registered with adult birthdays. According to a Meta blog post, this technology will now cover the EU-27 and debut on Facebook in the U.S., with the U.K. to follow in June. The company detailed its use of advanced AI to analyze profile data and contextual clues to detect underage users and implement stricter measures to prevent them from creating new accounts to bypass restrictions.