Meta Pauses AI Character Access for Teens Ahead of New Safety Update
Meta temporarily blocks teens from AI characters as it develops updated, age-appropriate experiences with enhanced parental control features.
Meta has announced that it will temporarily suspend teenagers’ access to its AI characters across all its apps worldwide. The move, the company told TechCrunch, is not a retreat from AI development but part of an effort to release an updated, safer version of AI characters tailored for teens.
The announcement comes just days before a high-profile trial in New Mexico, in which Meta faces accusations of failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms. According to Wired, Meta has tried to limit legal discovery related to the impact of social media on teen mental health.
Back in October, Meta previewed new parental control tools for AI characters, allowing parents to monitor their teens’ interactions, block access to certain AI personas, and even completely disable AI chats if needed. Originally slated for release this year, these features will now be incorporated into a broader update, prompting Meta to temporarily remove AI character access for teen 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. This will apply to anyone who has given us a teen birthday, as well as people who claim to be adults but who we suspect are teens based on our age prediction technology,” the company said in a recent blog post.
Meta explained that feedback from parents was a key factor in this decision. “We heard from parents that they wanted more insights and control over their teens’ interactions with AI characters,” the company said. The new iteration of AI characters promises age-appropriate responses, focusing on education, sports, and hobbies.
This step is part of Meta’s broader effort to limit teen exposure to AI content. In October, the company rolled out Instagram parental controls designed to tailor the teen experience with AI, restricting access to content featuring extreme violence, nudity, and graphic drug use—features inspired by the PG-13 movie rating system.
Regulatory scrutiny on social media and AI platforms has intensified. Meta faces another trial next week over claims that its platform contributes to social media addiction, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to testify. Meanwhile, other AI companies are also tightening teen safeguards. In October, Character.AI blocked open-ended conversations for users under 18, later announcing plans to create interactive stories for kids. OpenAI has similarly implemented age-based restrictions on ChatGPT interactions.
By pausing teen access and revamping AI characters with parental controls, Meta aims to balance innovation with safety, addressing growing concerns over young users’ online experiences. The company says the updated AI experience will be rolled out once these safety-focused upgrades are ready, offering teens a more guided and age-appropriate interaction with AI.
