Meta to suspend teen access to AI characters ahead of new updates

Meta is temporarily suspending teens’ access to existing AI characters across its apps as it works on updated tools that will give parents greater oversight of how their children use AI.

“In October, we shared that we’re building new tools to give parents more visibility into how their teens use AI, and more control over the AI characters they can interact with,” the company said. “Since then, we’ve started building a new version of AI characters to give people an even better experience.”

The pause will apply globally and is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Teens will not be able to access AI characters until the updated experience is ready. The restriction will apply to users who have provided a teen birthdate, as well as accounts that claim to belong to adults but are identified as teens using the company’s age prediction technology.

“While we focus on developing this new version, we’re temporarily pausing teens’ access to existing AI characters globally,” Meta said.

The parental controls will be applied to the new version of AI characters once it is launched. “This means that, when we deliver on our promise to give parents more oversight of their teens’ AI experiences, those parental controls will apply to the latest version of AI characters,” it said.

Teens will continue to have access to its AI assistant for general and educational use, with default age-appropriate safeguards in place.

The company first outlined its plans to expand parental oversight of teen AI use in a post published October 17, last year.