Why Instagram and social media needs stronger measures for age verification

Instagram will now ask users for their age when creating an account to keep children under 13 years of age out of their platform, the Facebook owned company announced in a blog post, published December 4.

Most social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, in their terms of use, require users to be at least 13 years old to use their services. TikTok has this interesting provision where under 13 years old can be allowed if they have the consent of a parent or legal guardian. However, it doesn’t specify how exactly it can be done.

Several studies have showed that children on social media platforms are more vulnerable to online predators than the grown-ups.