Instagram announced that it will require birthdates from all new users implemented immediately as a part of expanding the audience for ads for alcohol and other age-restricted products while offering new safety measures for younger users.

Till now Instagram except for exceptional circumstances has required its 1 billion users only to say they are at least 13 years old. Instagram said advertisers were not the driving force for the new requirement. Gambling and birth control are among other types of ads restricted to older audiences by Instagram policies and laws. The policy change could help stave off passage of costly child safety and data privacy regulations as lawmakers and family safety groups in the United States, Britain and elsewhere criticize the app for exposing children to inappropriate material.

The birthdate requirement is the latest step Instagram has taken to move away from longstanding principles such as anonymity that had distinguished it from Facebook’s namesake app. “Understanding how old people are is quite important to the work we’re doing, not only to create age-appropriate experiences but to live up to our longstanding rule to not allow access to young people,” Instagram’s Head of Product Vishal Shah said in an interview with Reuters. He declined to specify age-based features in testing, but said age could be the basis for recommended privacy settings or in-app education about staying safe online. Birthdates will not be visible to other users.

In addition, Instagram will introduce in the coming weeks options for users to block messages from people they do not follow and for both businesses and popular users who are known as “creators” to more easily restrict minors from viewing their posts, Shah said.

Instagram will not verify birthdates because teens often cannot prove their age, and it will still be left without birthdays of some existing users. Instagram expects most people will be honest about birthdates and said artificial intelligence could eventually aid verification. Current users who have not linked their Instagram and Facebook accounts will be able to add their birthdates, but the company is still debating whether it would be too intrusive to make it mandatory, Shah said.