iWorld
Instagram introduces new ways to verify age in India & Brazil
Mumbai: Meta-owned Instagram has announced that it has expanded the test of new options for people to verify their age to additional countries, including India and Brazil. The company further stated that it plans to expand to the UK and EU before the end of the year.
The company has brought its new test for users to verify their age via an original ID or video selfie to India. It says that kids today are using fake dates of birth to create profiles on social media platforms.
It requires people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for the service. In some countries, the minimum age is higher. Uners who are teens (13–17) will be offered age-appropriate experiences like defaulting them into private accounts, preventing unwanted contact from adults they don’t know and limiting the options advertisers have to reach them with ads.
If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram under the age of 18 to 18, or over, in India, they will be required to verify their age using one of three options: upload their ID, record a video selfie, or ask mutual friends to verify their age. The company also expressed that they’re testing this to make sure teens and adults are getting the right experience for their age group.
Instagram further added that it is removing “Social Vouching” as an option to verify age from the test to make some improvements.
The Social Vouching option allows users to ask mutual followers to confirm how old they are. The person vouching must be at least 18 years old, must not be doing it for anyone else at that time, and will need to meet other safeguards that are in place. The three people selected to vouch for the user will receive a request to confirm the user’s age and will need to respond within three days.
Further, Instagram also stated that it is partnering with Yoti, a company that specialises in privacy-preserving ways to verify age. Yoti is verified by the Age Check Certification Scheme and is an age verification provider for several industries around the world, including social media, gaming, and age-restricted e-commerce. Yoti has received public support for its approach and knowledge of responsible artificial intelligence from authorities and governmental organisations in the fields of youth and privacy, including the German regulator KJM.
Yoti notes that it trains its dataset on anonymous images of diverse people from around the world who have transparently allowed the company to use their data and who can ask them to delete their data at any time. For people under the age of 13, Yoti collected data using specific data collection exercises where parents or guardians had given explicit consent.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
