Meta Suspends Teen Access to AI Characters Globally

Meta Platforms Inc. announced Friday that it will temporarily suspend teenagers' access to its artificial intelligence characters across all its apps worldwide, including Instagram and WhatsApp, amid ongoing concerns about online safety for minors.

The company stated in a blog post that the restriction will take effect in the coming weeks and apply to users who have provided a birthdate indicating they are under 18, as well as those who claim to be adults but are identified as teens through Meta's age prediction technology. Teens will retain access to Meta's general AI assistant but will be blocked from interacting with the more personalized AI characters until an updated version is ready. That new iteration, Meta said, will incorporate built-in parental controls and adhere to a PG-13 movie rating standard to ensure age-appropriate content focused on topics such as education, sports and hobbies.

The decision comes as Meta faces heightened regulatory scrutiny over the potential harms of its platforms and AI tools on young users. It arrives one week before a trial is set to begin in Los Angeles, where Meta, along with TikTok and Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube, will defend against...