YouTube announced Tuesday that it is beginning to deploy age estimation technology in the US to identify teenagers to provide a more age-appropriate experience. The company says it uses a variety of signals to determine the potential age of a user, regardless of what they enter as their birthday when they sign up for their account.
When YouTube identifies users as teens, it introduces new protections and experiences that enable digital welfare tools such as disabling personalized ads, restricting the recurring view of certain types of content, and reminders of screen times and bedtime.
These protections already exist on YouTube, but only apply to people who have identified themselves as teenagers, not those who may have withheld their actual age. For example, in 2023, YouTube began limiting what would indicate repeated viewing or social attacks of videos that could cause body image issues. The company has also been developing digital welfare tools since 2018.
If the new system accidentally identifies users under the age of 18 otherwise, YouTube says it will give users the option to check their age with a credit card, government ID, or selfie. Only users who have been directly verified through this method, or those who are estimated to be over 18 years of age can view age-restricted content on the platform.
Machine learning-driven technology will begin to roll out to our small numbers of users over the coming weeks, then monitored before it becomes more widely deployed, the company says.
The plan to introduce age inference technology was first announced in February as part of YouTube's 2025 roadmap. The plan is also the latest step towards making YouTube safer for younger users, following the launch of the YouTube Kids app in 2015 and the rollout of monitoring accounts in 2024. This feature also comes as social media is increasing government scrutiny. It has been pitting lobbyists against people from major high-tech companies like Meta, who are responsible for age verification and child safety.
In the meantime, a small number of states have passed or proposed laws to regulate the use of minors on social media, so a few US states have taken the issue into their own hands. Many of these require age verification or parental consent in Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Utah, Texas, Maryland, Tennessee, Connecticut, etc. (However, as with Utah and Arkansas, some laws are currently blocked by lawsuits and are not enforceable, while others are still pending implementation.)
TechCrunch Events
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
The UK has also begun conducting its own age verification checks this week after passing the 2023 Online Safety Act.
Although YouTube does not share details about the signals it uses to infer a user's age, please note that they search for data such as YouTube activity and the lifespan of a user's account to make decisions if the user is under the age of 18.
The new system applies only to signed users, as signed out users are no longer able to access age-restricted content and will be available across platforms such as web, mobile, and connected television.