Meta Expands Parental Controls, Lets Parents Disable Teen Chats with AI Characters

In Focus

• Meta has expanded parental controls on its AI chatbot
• New AI control features allow parents to disable teen chats with AI characters
• Meta’s latest AI safety features rollout in early 2026
• New features will be available in English in the U.K, the U.S, Australia, and Canada

Meta is expanding controls on its AI chatbot to allow parents to disable private chats that their teens have with AI characters. According to Reuters, the new Meta AI parental controls adds another layer to the measures that the social media giant is putting in place to safeguard minors.

Meta AI Parental Controls for Teen Safety

The company introduced the new features months after its chatbot rules sparked concerns over AI safety for children. At the time, Meta’s internal policies on chatbot behavior allowed its AI models to engage children in conversations that are sensual or romantic.

At the beginning of this week, Meta said that the PG-13 movie rating system will guide teens’ AI experiences as it finds ways to keep minors from accessing inappropriate content. The company added that it will restrict sensitive topics including graphic drug use, nudity, and extreme violence. The new Meta AI safety features will take effect in 2026.

Meta AI parental controls will enable parents to:

• Monitor conversation topics
• Block specific characters
• Turnoff chats with AI characters for teens
• Set time limits for teen AI character interactions

According to Meta, turning off chats will not block teens’ access to its AI chatbot. Parents who opt for more selective control will be able to turn off chats with specific characters and get information about the topics their teens discuss with Meta AI and AI characters.

New Controls Rollout in 2026

Meta said it will introduce the new controls on Instagram at the beginning of 2026. The Instagram AI content filters will be available in the U.K, the U.S, Australia, and Canada in the English language.

“We recognize parents already have a lot on their plates when it comes to navigating the internet safely with their teens, and we’re committed to providing them with helpful tools and resources that make things simpler for them, especially as they think about new technology like AI,” the company said.

In April 2025, Meta added teen accounts to Facebook and introduced live restrictions to Instagram as a way of safeguarding teens online. The restricted teen accounts enroll young users automatically into an app with in-built protections.

Meta says that at the moment, teens can only interact with a limited number of AI characters on its platform. The characters align to its age-appropriate content guidelines. At the beginning of this year, Instagram said it will apply AI in identifying teen users who fake their age on the social media app.

Top Highlights of Meta’s AI Parental Controls

• Turning off chats will not block teens’ access to Meta AI chatbot
• Meta limits number of characters teens interact with
• Meta will restrict teen access to sensitive content
• Parents can know topics their teens discuss with Meta AI

Rising Concerns Over Teen Mental Health

Meta introduces new parental control features to its AI bot at a time when other tech giants have taken similar steps to enhance teen safety. U.S. regulators have also tightened scrutiny over AI firms amid growing concerns over the impact of social media on adolescent mental health and legal action against AI firms for teen suicides.

​​Last month, OpenAI introduced parental controls to ChatGPT on both web and mobile devices. The AI startup introduced the controls after parents whose teen died by suicide sued the tech company in August 2025. In the lawsuit, the parents claim that ChatGPT allegedly coached the teen on methods of self harm.

Earlier this week, video streaming platform YouTube said it will add a new video section dedicated to teen mental health and wellbeing.

The video section will provide curated, age-appropriate content on topics relating to mental health, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and ADHD.