Instagram Kepo Asks Users To Provide Birthday Information, This Is The Reason

Instagram already requires new users to add the user's date of birth. (photo: instagram)

JAKARTA - Instagram will soon ask users to add their birthday. According to the company, this update aims to protect minors who use the app.

Actually, Instagram already requires new users to add their birthday in 2019, but if you are an existing user, you can use the Instagram app without providing that info.

According to the company's official statement quoted from The Verge, Tuesday, August 31, Instagram will ask for a user's birthday when they open the app, if they haven't added it to their profile. Although this update can be ignored, if the user wants to continue using their account, then he or she is required to add a date of birth.

The main purpose of Instagram asking for the date of birth of its users is, because they will adjust the various content that appears with the age of the user. Sensitive content will also be raised if the user does not pin their birthday information.

Users will no longer be able to view this post until they provide their date of birth, and minors may not be able to view this post at all.

In addition to the Engadget report, the company will also use artificial intelligence to detect when users may have provided false birthday information, and users will be asked to verify their age.

"Later on, if someone tells us they're over a certain age, and our technology tells us otherwise, we'll show them a menu of options to verify their age. This work is still in its early stages, and we hope to continue developing it." said Instagram.

For information, Instagram is trying to improve security and privacy features for teenage users. The company also said it would switch to making younger teen accounts private by default, and limiting advertisers' ability to target demographics.

Not long ago, the Facebook-owned social media also introduced a feature to prevent adult strangers from sending messages to teenagers. Instagram is also in the early stages of developing a version of its service for users under the age of 13, which has sparked concern from lawmakers and other officials in several countries.