Meta Introduces Parental Controls to Block AI Characters from Interacting with Teens on Social Platforms

Meta announced on Friday that parents will soon have the ability to disable private conversations between their teenagers and AI characters, introducing another safety measure for its social media platforms following intense scrutiny over its chatbot interactions with minors.

The company revealed earlier this week that AI experiences for teenage users will be governed by PG-13 movie rating guidelines as part of its efforts to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content.

Regulatory bodies in the United States have increased oversight of artificial intelligence companies regarding potential negative impacts of chatbots. Reuters reported in August how Meta's AI policies permitted provocative conversations with underage users.

These new protective tools, outlined by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, will first launch on Instagram in early 2025 across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, according to a company blog post.

Meta stated that parents will additionally have options to restrict access to specific AI characters and view general topics their teens discuss with chatbots and Meta's AI assistant, without completely removing AI functionality.

The company clarified that its AI assistant will remain accessible with age-appropriate default settings even when parents disable one-on-one conversations between teens and AI characters.

These supervision features build upon protections already implemented for teenage accounts, with Meta noting that it employs AI detection systems to apply safeguards to suspected teen accounts even when users claim to be adults.

A September report revealed that many safety features Meta has implemented on Instagram over the years are either ineffective or nonexistent.

Meta emphasized that its AI characters are designed to avoid age-inappropriate discussions about self-harm, suicide, or disordered eating with teenage users.

Last month, OpenAI introduced parental controls for ChatGPT on web and mobile platforms following legal action by parents of a teenager who died by suicide after allegedly receiving guidance on self-harm methods from the company's chatbot.