
Parents Can Block Meta Bots from Children
Parents will soon have the ability to block their children's interactions with Meta's AI character chatbots, addressing concerns over inappropriate conversations.
The social media company is implementing new safeguards for 'teen accounts', a default setting for users under 18, allowing parents to disable chats with AI characters. These user-created chatbots are available on Facebook, Instagram, and the Meta AI app.
Parents can also block specific AI characters if they prefer not to stop all chatbot interactions. They will receive 'insights' into the topics of their children's AI conversations, enabling 'thoughtful' discussions about AI interactions.
Meta announced that these changes will be introduced early next year in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Instagram has adopted a PG-13 cinema rating system to give parents stronger control over their children's social media use.
These changes follow reports of Meta's chatbots engaging in inappropriate conversations with minors. Meta stated it would revise guidelines, emphasizing that such conversations should never have been allowed.