OpenAI has added parental controls for ChatGPT’s Web interface, with mobile controls coming soon. The controls give parents the ability to reduce or remove certain content and dial down personalization by turning off ChatGPT’s transcript memories. At the same time, OpenAI has added the ability to restrict image generation with the launch of Sora parental controls for ChatGPT-connected teen accounts. There are also controls for sending and receiving direct messages through the app. OpenAI says the changes aim “to give families tools to support their teens’ use of AI.” To activate control access, parents must have their own accounts and teens will need to opt in. Continue reading OpenAI Rolls Out New Parental Controls to Help Protect Kids

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has released proposed rules that would restrict minors from exposure to addictive features on social media pursuant to the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, signed into state law last year to “protect the mental health of children.” The law, which is expected to take effect sometime next year, requires social media companies that supply addictive content to use an age verification system with results “certified by a verified third-party.” Absent parental consent, platform operators must restrict users under 18 from receiving addictive or algorithmically personalized feeds and nighttime notifications. Continue reading SAFE for Kids Act: NY State Attorney Opens Comment Period

Following a California teen’s suicide after months of conversation about it with ChatGPT and a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his parents against OpenAI, the company says it will introduce parental controls “within the next month.” New safeguards include parents being able to “control how ChatGPT responds to their teen” and “receive notifications when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress.” OpenAI says it has recently introduced a real-time router that can redirect “sensitive conversations” to its GPT-5 thinking and o3 reasoning models, engineered to respond with greater contextual awareness than efficiency-focused chat models. Continue reading OpenAI Announces Plans for New ChatGPT Parental Controls

An increasing number of teens are experimenting with AI companions like chatbots for advice and sometimes even for friendship, according to a new study from Common Sense Media. The survey found that 72 percent of U.S. teens have interacted with a personal, as opposed to a productivity, chatbot at least once. The inquiry characterized either personal AI, or chatbots with recreational settings, as “companions.” Exploring the use of artificial intelligence by children ages 13 to 17 revealed that of the nearly three-quarters who had tried an AI companion, more than half — 52 percent — identified as regular users. Continue reading Study Finds Teens Are Increasingly Turning to AI Companions

As the U.S. grapples with how to implement its own Internet age verification guardrails for minors, two Big Tech firms on opposite sides of the issue here have thrown their support behind French President Emmanuel Macron’s steps to safeguard EU children. Meta Platforms issued a statement lauding Macron’s idea for a “digital majority age” that requires parents to approve children’s access to services including social media. Simultaneously, Google open-sourced its Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) libraries to help developers with privacy-compliant age verification solutions, a move that coincides with a partnership with German bank Sparkasse on a digital wallet age verification service. Continue reading Google, Meta Support Europe’s Online Age Verification Efforts

Texas has codified a new law that requires the Apple and Google app stores to verify users’ ages for downloads, providing parents and guardians more control over children’s downloads. California and Illinois are considering similar measures, but so far Texas is the largest among 20 states that have evaluated similar smartphone laws aimed at child safety. In March, Utah became the first state to establish such regulation. As part of a broader national push Congress this month reintroduced the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) requiring social media platforms to police harmful content. Continue reading Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act to Protect Children

Instant messaging and VoIP social platform Discord is experimenting with a feature that requires some users to verify their age by scanning their face or a photo ID. The technique is being implemented in Australia and the United Kingdom, where recently passed laws seek to crack down on minors accessing potentially harmful online content. The safeguard applies only to users who haven’t previously verified their age on the chat platform. Discord says age verification aims “to help users manage content filter settings and sensitive content visibility,” explaining it is a one-time process that can be completed when users first adjust their settings. Continue reading Discord Testing Facial Scans to Verify Age in UK and Australia

The National Hockey League is testing an animated recap show aimed at drawing young viewers. “NHL Hockeyverse Matchup of the Week” uses NHL Edge Positional Data to turn NHL player into avatars, creating “a visualization of the on-ice action with stunning realism and dynamic movements,” the league says. The half-hour show premiered February 1 featuring a recap of a January 25 game between the Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals. Episodes air on the NHL Network and on the NHL YouTube channel in the U.S. and on Sportsnet in Canada and are expected to continue in the Saturday slot. Continue reading NHL Is Turning Players into Avatars in Game Recaps for Kids

Capitulating to outside pressure, after a barrage of media reports citing unsafe conditions for minors, Roblox is implementing new safeguards. Parents can now access parental controls from their own devices in addition to their child’s device and monitor their child’s screen time. New content labels and improvements to how users under age 13 can communicate on Roblox are additional protections that are now baked into the platform. “We’ve spent nearly two decades building strong safety systems, but we are always evolving our systems as new technology becomes available,” explained the Roblox. Continue reading Roblox Tightens Child Safety Guidelines Amidst Media Outcry

Online gaming platform Roblox has banned kids from “social hangout” spaces — areas that feature communication through voice chat or text and offer “free-form 2D user creation” experiences where users can do things like share drawings. Roblox has also added safeguards to prevent those under the age of 13 from playing, searching or discovering unrated games. Roblox has imposed the restrictions following allegations that it has failed to protect its younger users. This is the latest such update by a string of social platforms that have imposed guardrails designed to protect young users as lawmakers turn up the heat on child online safety. Continue reading Roblox’s New Child Safety Measures Target Hangout Spaces

The government of Canada has ordered social video app TikTok to shut down its business operations in the country, following a national security review under the Investment Canada Act. and potential risks posed by TikTok and parent ByteDance. “The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content,” explains François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. “The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice.” Canada previously banned the TikTok app from official government devices, while the U.S. passed a law that could also ban the app. Continue reading Canada Orders TikTok to Shut Down Its Business Operations

Nine months after lawmakers grilled social networks for exposing children to harm, Meta Platforms has announced that Instagram’s teen accounts will be set to “private” by default. Instagram Teen Accounts have built-in protections, limiting who can contact the underage account holders as well as the content they see. “We’ll automatically place teens into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict,” Meta revealed in a blog post. To avoid leaving teens feeling their wings were clipped, Meta says there will also be new features designed expressly for them. Continue reading Instagram Sets Its New ‘Teen Accounts’ to Private by Default

In an effort to create a safer environment for teens, social platform Snapchat is providing educators with resources to familiarize them with the app and help them understand how students use it. The company has launched a website called “An Educator’s Guide to Snapchat.” The announcement, timed to the start of the new school year, comes as lawmakers have been pressuring social networks to do more to protect children, with Florida and Indiana going so far as to enact school cell phone bans. Legislators in California and New York have been exploring similar prohibitions. Continue reading Snapchat Puts Focus on Teen Safety Resources for Teachers

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, charging they’ve violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing children to create TikTok accounts without parental consent, and collecting their data. The suit also alleges TikTok retained the personal data of minors who joined prior to COPPA going into effect in 2000, even after parents demanded it be deleted, a right under COPPA. This latest move in the ongoing legal battle with ByteDance follows the Chinese company’s own lawsuit against the U.S. government. Continue reading U.S. Raises Stakes in TikTok Legal Battle, Suing Under COPPA

Two landmark bills designed to bolster online safety for children — the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) — were overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in bipartisan 91-3 votes. If approved by the House, the legislation would introduce new rules regarding what tech companies can offer to minors and how those firms use and share children’s data. The three senators who voted against the bills cited concerns that the regulations could stifle free speech, open the door to government censorship, and fail to adequately address the greatest threats to children online. Continue reading Senate Passes Two Bills to Strengthen Children’s Online Safety