Instagram users now must submit their date of birth before they may use Instagram. The change comes more than eight months after Instagram announced its aim to make age verification mandatory on its service and began forcing users to provide their birth dates. The upgrade’s major purpose is to restrict access to youngsters under the age of 13. Instagram will now be able to better target adverts to users based on their date of birth.

Instagram shows a screen before allowing access to its content in order to obtain the user’s date of birth. It compels users to input their birth date and does not let them skip this step. “You must enter your birthday before you can continue using Instagram, even if this account is for a company or a pet,” the screen prompt adds. “This contributes to the safety of our community’s youngsters. Your birthdate will also be used to tailor your experience, including adverts. It will not appear on your public profile.”

For some Instagram users who have yet to enter their date of birth, the new prompt has begun to appear. Several of them have taken to Twitter to voice their dissatisfaction with Instagram’s move to aggressively request their birth date. Instagram began requesting age verification as an optional feature in 2019. Last year, the network made it mandatory for users to provide their date of birth and announced the deployment of prompts to allow users to fill in the information while perusing their feed or producing new material for their followers. Users who did not provide their information and did not follow the preceding prompts were able to use the Instagram app till today.

The most recent upgrade, which restricts access for children, may eventually aid Instagram in redirecting its youth following to a new app that we may see in the future. Meta would also be able to generate more money by displaying personalized adverts to its users after learning their birth dates.