Meta Temporarily Blocks Underage Users From Accessing AI Characters

By Elias Schisgall

Meta Platforms will temporarily block teenage users from accessing its artificial-intelligence characters while it updates its platform.

Meta users registered with a teenaged birthday or flagged as likely underage by the company's age-prediction technology will lose access to AI characters "until the updated experience is ready," the company said in a Friday blog post.

"This means that, when we deliver on our promise to give parents more oversight of their teens' AI experiences, those parental controls will apply to the latest version of AI characters," Meta wrote.

Meta said teenagers will still be able to access Meta's AI assistant with default, age-appropriate protections.

The announcement builds on Meta's rollout of protections for underage AI users in October, including guardrails against discussions of inappropriate content or sensitive topics such as self-harm, suicide or eating disorders.

Meta has continuously faced scrutiny over teenagers' uses of its platforms and features. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Meta's AI characters would engage in discussions of a sexual nature, even when users are underage, prompting concerns from staffers inside the company.

Meta said at the time that the Journal's testing of its AI characters was unrepresentative of how most users engage with the feature, but made multiple changes to its products once the Journal shared its findings.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2026 13:04 ET (18:04 GMT)