Social media firms could be made to use facial recognition technology to check children’s ages

Social media firms could be ordered to use facial recognition technology to check children’s ages.

Millions of children could have their online profiles banned by the tech giants under plans to be set out by online regulator Ofcom next spring.

Social media executives have been warned they could face huge fines and even prison sentences if they fail to follow guidance designed to ensure their users are not underage.

John Higham, Ofcom’s head of online safety policy, said platforms would be expected to remove children’s accounts from their sites by using ‘highly accurate and effective’ AI age checks.

The regulator estimates that up to 60 per cent of eight to 11-year-olds have social media profiles, despite sites such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat having minimum age limits of 13. 

Mr Higham said more than a fifth of under-age children on social media sites claim to be adults to set up profiles.

He told the Telegraph: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to work out that children are going to lie about their age. So we think there’s a big issue there.’ 

Earlier this month Ofcom published a new set of rules that will compel social media companies to take action against illegal and harmful content in order to comply with the Online Safety Act.

Social media executives have been warned they could face huge fines and even prison sentences if they fail to follow guidance designed to ensure their users are not underage

Under the rules, which come into effect in the Spring, Ofcom will be given powers to fine tech firms that fail to protect children from online harms up to 10 per cent of their global turnover and even to jail executives for persistent breaches.

Technology companies maintain that they have introduced more stringent age checks in recent years including scanning personal IDs, facial age estimation and asking a parent to confirm age.

However Ofcom research reportedly found that most children said they had never been asked to confirm their age, with only 18 per cent of Instagram users, 19 per cent of TikTok users and 14 per cent of Snapchat users saying they had ever been asked to verify their date of birth.