Overview
- Rollout begins in the coming weeks and covers accounts with teen birthdays as well as users flagged as likely teens by age‑prediction technology.
- Teens will retain access to the official Meta AI assistant, which the company says already has age‑appropriate protections.
- The change follows reports of inappropriate chats by character bots and a Reuters-cited document allowing “sensual” conversations that Meta later called erroneous.
- Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with investigations by the FTC and the Texas attorney general and a New Mexico safety lawsuit set for trial early next month.
- Meta had previewed parental tools in October but chose to pause teen access to the current bots and focus on a new iteration designed for age‑appropriate responses and parental oversight.