Starting August 13, YouTube, owned by Google, will deploy AI-based technology in the U.S. to estimate users’ ages, regardless of the age they provided during account registration. The goal is to identify teenagers and tailor content recommendations to their age group, enhancing safety on the platform.
YouTube currently offers protections for minors, including disabling personalized ads, restricting repeated viewing of content that may trigger body image issues or depict social aggression, enforcing screen time limits, providing bedtime reminders and issuing privacy alerts for uploads or comments.
These measures previously relied on users self-reporting their age, allowing those who entered an older age to bypass restrictions. Now, YouTube will notify users identified as under 18, offering age verification via credit card, government ID or selfie if misidentified.
Content creators may see their teen audience reclassified, potentially reducing ad revenue due to the absence of personalized ads for minors. This move comes as social media platforms, including Meta and ByteDance’s TikTok, face heightened U.S. government scrutiny over their impact on children.
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Over a dozen U.S. states, including Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Utah, Texas, Maryland, Tennessee and Connecticut, have passed laws regulating minors’ social media use, mandating age verification or parental consent.
Some, like those in Utah and Arkansas, are under legal challenge, while others await implementation. The UK also began enforcing its own age verification law this week, passed in 2003.
YouTube’s age estimation relies on machine learning, analyzing data like past activity and account longevity, though Google has not disclosed specifics. The technology will initially roll out to a small U.S. user group before expanding nationwide.
James Beser, YouTube’s product management director, promised close monitoring before global deployment. Announced in February as part of YouTube’s 2025 roadmap, this step builds on prior efforts like the 2015 launch of YouTube Kids and supervised accounts in 2024 to make the platform safer for young users.
The system will apply only to registered users, as unregistered viewers are already blocked from age-restricted content. It will function across all platforms, including computers, mobile devices and smart TVs.