{"id":254330,"date":"2026-01-23T22:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254330\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T22:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:44:07","slug":"meta-halts-teens-access-to-ai-characters-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/254330\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta halts teens&#8217; access to AI characters globally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jan 23 (Reuters) &#8211; Meta Platforms <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/companies\/META.O\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">(META.O), opens new tab<\/a> said on Friday it will suspend teenagers&#8217; access to its existing AI characters across all of its apps worldwide, as it builds an updated iteration of those for teen users.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Starting in the coming weeks, teens will no longer be able to access AI characters across our apps until the updated experience is ready,&#8221; Meta said in an updated blog post on minors&#8217; protection.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/meta-halts-teens-access-ai-characters-globally-2026-01-23\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Fmeta-halts-teens-access-ai-characters-globally-2026-01-23%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new version of characters for teens will come with parental controls once it becomes available.<\/p>\n<p>In October, Meta previewed <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/litigation\/meta-give-teen-parents-more-control-after-criticism-over-flirty-ai-chatbots-2025-10-17\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">parental controls<\/a> that allow them to disable their teens&#8217; private chats with AI characters, adding another measure to make its social media platforms safe for minors after fierce criticism over the behavior of its flirty chatbots.<\/p>\n<p>The company on Friday said that these controls have not been launched yet.<\/p>\n<p>Meta had also said that its AI experiences for teens will be guided by the <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/metas-instagram-restrict-teen-content-pg-13-by-default-2025-10-14\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PG-13 movie rating system<\/a>, as it looks to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content.U.S. regulators have stepped up scrutiny of AI companies over the potential negative impacts of chatbots. In August, Reuters reported how Meta&#8217;s <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/metas-ai-rules-have-let-bots-hold-sensual-chats-with-kids-offer-false-medical-2025-08-14\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI rules<\/a> allowed provocative conversations with minors.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; editing by Alan Barona<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan 23 (Reuters) &#8211; Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab said on Friday it will suspend teenagers&#8217; access&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,115594,343,344,117378,115885,115921,115908,115912,115914,115909,115907,115887,10185,85,46,261,116555,115600,115893,115882,115905,115895,116130,115906,117375,117376,115897,115898,115901,920,125,3731,208,115902],"class_list":["post-254330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-amers","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-blr","tag-cmpny","tag-destlita","tag-destocabsm","tag-destodat","tag-destopub","tag-destousbsm","tag-destoustcm","tag-dli","tag-gen","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-legal","tag-mtpix","tag-namer","tag-netsv","tag-nrlpaodat","tag-nrlpaopub","tag-publ","tag-pxp","tag-reuters-legal","tag-rulesmagnificent-seven","tag-rulesmarkets-facebook","tag-soci","tag-socmed","tag-swit","tag-tech","tag-technology","tag-tmt","tag-us","tag-www"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}