Google’s YouTube is adding new age-verification methods designed to protect teens. The streaming video platform is using AI to interpret “a variety of signals” to identify users under 18, regardless of the birthdate used to create the account. If the system identifies a user as a teen, age-appropriate protections will automatically take effect. These include disabling personalized advertising, restricted recommendations, limits on repetitive viewing of certain content and screen-time reminders. If the system incorrectly categorizes a user as under 18, they will have the option to correct the situation with a credit card or a government ID.

“We’re extending our existing built-in protections to more U.S. teens on YouTube, using machine learning age estimation,” the video platform explains in a blog post.

YouTube’s existing protections “have only been applied to those who verified themselves as teens, not those who may have withheld their real age,” according to TechCrunch, which notes that “the company has also been developing digital well-being tools since 2018,” and implemented “limiting repeated viewing of videos that could trigger body image issues or those that display social aggression” starting in 2023.

PCMag reports YouTube will begin deploying the new age-estimation tool on August 13, adding that “Meta already does something similar with its Teen Accounts for Instagram and Facebook, with the only major difference being that the restrictions there apply to those under 16, and not 18.”

YouTube will initially test the new approach “on a small subset of users in the U.S. over the coming weeks as a trial, before rolling it out to the rest of its users,” writes Tom’s Guide, noting that the company says “it has been using this approach in other markets ‘for some time’ and is now bringing it to the U.S.”

YouTube is enhancing its protections months after Google implemented a machine learning tool to determine user age based on search activity and YouTube viewing. “It also comes at a time when tech platforms are facing growing scrutiny over how they protect minors online,” says PCMag.

The Australian government announced this week that “YouTube will be among the social media platforms that must ensure account holders are at least 16-years-old from December,” reversing a position taken months ago that exempted the popular video-sharing service from the age verification requirement, writes ABC News.

Related:
Ready or Not, Age Verification Is Rolling Out Across the Internet, The Verge, 7/30/25
Google Is Using AI Age Checks to Lock Down User Accounts, The Verge, 7/30/25
Spotify Now Requires Face Scans to Access Age-Restricted Content in the UK, Engadget, 7/30/25