Instagram has announced that in a push to create safer, more private experiences for young people it will be asking people to share their birthdays if they haven't already. This information will allow the social media app to create new safety features for young people and help ensure that it provides the right experiences to the right age group.

For example, in March Instagram prevented adults from sending messages to people under 18 who don't follow them, and last month started to default new accounts belonging to people under the age of 16 into a private setting. 

Instagram has said: "This information also allows us to personalize your experience, for example, we can apply recent changes we made to restrict advertiser targeting options for audiences under the age of 18, to more people. It also helps us show you more relevant ads."

Instagram has also added that it is currently developing a system to detect false birthdays given.