Meta to suspend teens’ access to AI characters amid safety overhaul

Meta said Friday it was suspending teenagers' access to its existing AI characters on all social media platforms as it continues to build a new version for those users.

"Starting in the coming weeks, teens will no longer be able to access AI characters across our apps until the updated experience is ready," Meta said in an updated blog post on its website.

Meta said the pause applies to any user who has provided the platform with a teen birthday, as well as anyone the company suspects is a teen, based on its age prediction technology.

The announcement comes after Meta previewed a new safety measure in October that would allow parents to disable their teenagers' private chats with AI characters, following criticism over chatbots engaging in flirtatious conversations.

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The company said the tool would let parents block specific AI characters and look at the broad topics their teens were discussing with chatbots and Meta's AI assistant, without completely turning off AI access.

Meta said that control feature has not yet been launched, adding that the parental controls will be built into the updated version of its AI characters once the new safeguards for teens are rolled out.

Teens will still be able to access Meta’s AI assistant with "age-appropriate protections in place," according to Meta.

The tech giant previously said its AI characters were designed to not engage in age-inappropriate discussions with minors about topics such as self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.

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The company said its AI experiences for teenagers will be guided by the PG-13 movie rating system, with the goal of preventing children from accessing inappropriate content.

The push for new safety measures comes after a report published in September found that several Instagram safety features did not function effectively.

The report also found that Meta's chatbots engaged in "conversations that are romantic or sensual," sparking criticism from parents and child-safety advocates.

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FOX Business reached out to Meta for additional information.

FOX Business' Landon Mion contributed to this report.