Meta Blocks Teens From Chatting With Its AI Characters — Big Safety Shift in 2026

Meta has declared that it will allow temporary interaction between teenagers and its AI characters in all its apps globally, like Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. It will be imposed within the next few weeks and apply to all people who are registered as minors, and those the user suspects are underage based on age-prediction software. Meta believes that this pause will be in effect until a new experience with a new design and safety improvements is available. In the meantime, the teens can also continue using the general-purpose AI assistant developed by Meta, which the company claims already has age-related safeguards.

This Change was fuelled by Safety Concerns And Regulatory Scrutiny.

It is a step ahead, in an environment of mounting regulation and litigation against social media and AI regarding its effect on the youth. Meta (as well as TikTok and YouTube) is going to stand trial in Los Angeles based on so-called damages to children, associated with the platforms. The AI chatbots have also been criticized to have inappropriate interactions with teenagers including conversations about sensitive subjects that may not be appropriate in the mostly underage group. These pressures are manifested in the decision of Meta to stop access, as the company indicates that its existing AI characters are not yet safe to be used by younger users without additional controls.

Parental Controls Currently Under Development.

In late 2025, Meta also revealed a set of parental control features that would enable parents to have more control over how teens engage with AI characters. These controls were meant to allow the parents to turn off any private chat with the AI characters, block certain characters, and view general subjects their teens are communicating with AI. Nevertheless, those tools are not yet completely deployed, which is one of the reasons why Meta is temporarily blocking teenage access completely – to complete the creation of the safer experience with such controls built-in at the baseline.

Possible contents of What Reimagined AI Experiences For Teens.

In line with blogs and statements posted by the Meta, the teen access will be reinstated in a form of the PG-13-style framework – restricting content access to the inappropriate content and giving responses appropriate to younger users. The new AI characters are meant to remain on track on areas such as education, sports and hobbies and not on open ended or free flowing discussions. The parental controls should be inbuilt such that they provide a family with greater transparency and agency, something that Meta claims was one of the key factors behind its decision to pause the present experience and redesign.

Trend in the Industry A movement of Minors AI bans developing.

Meta is not the only one that has restricted access to younger users. Similar actions have been undertaken by other AI platforms, as more people start to worry about the interactions of generative AI with children and teens. In 2025, Character.AI, which was an example, limited teens in using its chatbots as a result of problematic conversations and lawsuits. Such businesses are addressing societal and legal pressure on better safety barriers and more apparent age-gating of AI services.

The initiative by Meta is a serious change in the approach used by large technological corporations to treat the question of AI safety among minors as one of innovation and responsibility. With it developing a new version with parental restrictions and age-friendly dialogue, teens will be forced to search with the help of less powerful AI tools which are not meant to entertain but inform and educate.

News Source: Theverge.com

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