YouTube's age verification system is back to calling adults kids

What you need to know

• YouTube's new age verification rollout is mistakenly flagging some adult users as minors.
• Many users on Reddit report being misclassified, with YouTube asking them to reverify their age.
• The AI-based verification system seems unreliable despite aiming to protect minors and follow laws.
• Affected users can manually verify with ID, credit card, or selfie.

YouTube has started rolling out age verification for users in some regions. However, the system seems to be failing for some users, mistakenly flagging some adults as kids.

As spotted by Android Police, YouTube has begun a second wave of age verification rollout for users in the U.S. However, the system, even though Google has implemented its various methods of age verification, seems to be flagging some adult users as underage.

Several users have taken to Reddit to report that they have been falsely classified as minors even though they are not. For those affected, YouTube shows the warning, "We've changed some of your settings. We couldn't verify that you're an adult." YouTube then gives the option to use the service with restrictions using a "Got it" button or reverify their age using "Verify age."

Some users can't prove they're adults to YouTube

Literally turned 18 and my YouTube account got flagged for being a “minor”. from r/youtube

Users affected by this change seem to be quite frustrated. Some claim their account is more than 18 years old, while others say they're over 20 years old, yet YouTube is still flagging them as minors.

YouTube's intentions are good, as the system prevents minors from accessing inappropriate content, shows non-personalized ads, and complies with legal requirements in various regions. However, the company is reportedly using AI-based age estimation, which seems to be falsely flagging users.

If you're affected by this change, the only thing you can do for now is reverify your age manually using an ID, credit card, or selfie. YouTube's age verification system isn't rolling out in all countries yet. For now, it's limited to regions like the U.S., the U.K., and some EU countries.

In addition to YouTube, Google also seems to be using a similar age verification system for the Play Store when downloading certain apps. However, for age verification in Play Store, Google gives another option to verify using a third-party service, which doesn't seem to be available for YouTube yet.