Following a landmark agreement this summer to improve social media safety for minors, experts emphasize the need for faster action on AI protections for children. While social media companies have introduced some safety features, advocates argue that lessons from social media regulation highlight the importance of proactive measures for AI, which is advancing rapidly and poses emerging risks. Industry and regulators are now encouraged to act sooner to prevent potential harms to young users from AI technologies.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-05
Discord says it is now automatically sorting accounts into age groups using signals like account age and server membership, rather than message content, meaning over 90% of users won't need to verify their age. Adult accounts see no change, while teen accounts (13-17) retain core features like messaging and voice calls but are blocked from age-restricted content and settings. Users who need to confirm their age can now do so via methods like credit cards, app store age-sharing, Google Wallet, or AgeKey, without submitting an ID or selfie.
discord.com
· 2026-09-22
California's Assembly passed Bill 1856, amending the Digital Age Assurance Act to exclude operating systems and software meant to be freely copied, redistributed or modified from mandatory age-verification requirements. This shields most Linux distributions, though derivative projects with proprietary layers like Valve's SteamOS may still need to comply. The bill also fixes the DAAA's overly broad definition of 'user' and restricts sharing of age data to law enforcement requests.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-01
California's Assembly Bill 1856 has passed both chambers of the state legislature and now heads to Engrossing and Enrolling before reaching Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. The bill retains an amendment carving out open-source operating systems from its age-verification mandates, an exemption first added back in May. Covered operating systems will need to collect birth date or age information during account setup and share a coarse age-range signal with app stores and developers via API.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-08-31
Meta's settlement with attorneys general from 29 states, which includes up to $18 billion in payments and new child safety measures, contains a clause shielding Meta from COPPA-related lawsuits over its use of children's data. The exemption applies specifically to data used to build and test an age-verification model meant to detect users under 13, and Meta must build this system within a year of the agreement taking effect. The deal explicitly bars use of under-13 data for ad targeting or algorithmic optimization, though critics note enforcement could be tricky.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-27
Meta has settled requirements forcing Instagram and Facebook to add new teen safeguards, including a non-personalized feed option, stricter age verification, a combined two-hour daily usage cap across both apps, and recurring prompts urging teens to stop scrolling. The changes must roll out within four months and apply across alternate accounts Meta detects belonging to the same teen user.
theverge.com
· 2026-08-26
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