Meta to give parents more control over teens’ AI chats after backlash
Meta Platforms Inc. announced new parental controls for its AI chat features on Instagram, allowing parents to disable private conversations between teens and AI characters. The move comes after widespread criticism that some of Meta’s chatbots engaged in flirty or inappropriate exchanges with minors.
Earlier this week, the company said its AI experiences for teens would be guided by the PG-13 movie rating system, aiming to limit access to mature content, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
According to a company blog post, the new supervision tools — detailed by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang — will launch early next year in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.
Parents will also be able to block specific AI characters and view general topics their children discuss with Meta’s AI chatbots, without disabling the technology entirely. Meta noted that its main AI assistant will remain available with age-appropriate settings, even when one-on-one chats are turned off.
The company said these tools build on existing teen protection measures, adding that AI systems automatically detect and apply safety features for suspected underage users — even if they claim to be adults.
Meta’s announcement follows ongoing regulatory scrutiny over the risks of AI interactions with minors. A September report found that many of Instagram’s safety tools were ineffective or missing, while in August, Reuters revealed Meta’s AI rules allowed suggestive exchanges with teenagers.
Last month, OpenAI also introduced parental controls for ChatGPT after a lawsuit alleged its chatbot had encouraged self-harm in a teen.
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