Instagram Birthday Requirement: What Users Need to Know

Instagram to Prompt Users for Birthdays

Instagram is initiating a process of requesting users to submit their birthdates if this information hasn't been previously provided. The company announced today that notifications will be displayed, prompting users to input their birthday to “personalize their experience.” However, this prompt cannot be indefinitely dismissed and will eventually become a mandatory requirement.

Enhanced Safety Measures for Younger Users

This action forms a component of Instagram’s broader strategy to implement new safety features, particularly those focused on younger demographics, as the company explains. This encompasses the teen privacy safeguards introduced earlier this year, alongside Instagram’s long-term objective of launching a platform version tailored for users under 13 years of age.

In March, Instagram implemented new functionalities that increased the difficulty for adults to connect with teenagers via the application. Subsequently, in July, the company unveiled a more extensive set of modifications to the default settings for new users under the age of 16.

Default Privacy Settings and Account Restrictions

These users’ accounts will now default to “private,” and their accounts will be less likely to be suggested to others within the app. Furthermore, adults with accounts identified as “potentially suspicious” will be restricted from contacting minors or engaging with their content.

Beginning this week, Instagram states that users who haven’t yet shared their birthdate will encounter pop-up notifications upon opening the Instagram app.

While these notifications will initially appear several times, users will eventually be unable to dismiss them with a “Not Now” option. Ultimately, sharing a birthday will become compulsory for continued Instagram usage.

Birthday Requests with Sensitive Content Warnings

The company will also now request birthday information when users encounter posts displaying warning screens. These screens conceal content flagged as sensitive or graphic, and are not a new feature. However, Instagram has not previously requested a user’s birthday before revealing this hidden content.

The birthday submission form is straightforward, requiring users to simply scroll to select their birth month, day, and year.

Detecting Inaccurate Birthdate Information

It is well-known that children often provide false information on these forms to circumvent age restrictions when registering for applications. To address this, Instagram has developed artificial intelligence technology to identify accounts where inaccurate birthdates may have been submitted.

For example, the system may infer a user’s birthday based on comments made on “Happy Birthday” posts, where their age might be mentioned. The company also indicates future plans in this area, stating that it will eventually require users to verify their age when Facebook’s technology detects a discrepancy between the submitted age and the user’s apparent age, based on other data points.

Age Verification Technology

This technology is currently in the “early stages,” according to Instagram, but will involve a range of options for age verification.

The need for users’ birthdays extends beyond powering the recently introduced teen protection features. Instagram is also preparing to extend its app to younger users—a decision that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups. Additionally, age remains a crucial data point for advertising targeting.

Continued Ad Targeting Based on Age

Even as Instagram has limited the ability of marketers to target teens based on interests or activity on other apps, it will continue to permit ad targeting based on age, gender, and location across different age groups.

The company is now among several platforms that have implemented enhanced protections for younger teen users, anticipating regulations that would mandate such measures. Throughout the year, TikTok, YouTube, and Google have also announced changes to how younger teens can use their services and how they are targeted by advertisements, in preparation for potential regulatory action.

While each platform has independently developed its own set of teen safety features, the changes have largely focused on making the default settings for new teenage users more restrictive.

Instagram states that the new birthday pop-up notifications will begin appearing this week on the mobile app and will be progressively rolled out to reach more users in the coming weeks.