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What does this viral Twitter prank trick users into doing?

Answer: Locking themselves out of their accounts.

A tweet on Monday began going viral because it told users that they could make their Twitter feed colorful if they changed their birth year to 2007. When they did this, however, they found themselves suddenly locked out of their account.

That’s because Twitter prohibits users under the age of 13 from having an account. It began automatically locking down underage accounts last year in order to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. Anyone born in the year 2007 or later, and identifying as such on Twitter, would be 12 years old and therefore in violation of the platform’s rules.

Users who may have been locked out can either log in and follow the prompts for entering an incorrect birthdate or fill out this form to receive assistance from the Twitter team.

Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.