Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute published a 36-page assessment of ChatGPT for Teens, concluding the mode is unsafe for anyone under 18. Testing found some advertised safeguards worked, such as blocking explicit sexual roleplay, but others failed or worsened, including inconsistent parental safety alerts when teen accounts discussed suicide, self-harm or disordered eating. OpenAI says delays can occur shortly after accounts are linked and cites a possible technical issue, and noted that all flagged content is reviewed by staff before parents are notified.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-08
New York's lawsuit against TikTok alleges the company ran experiments in which thousands of users, including teens and children, believed they had activated 'Algo Refresh,' a feature meant to reset their content recommendations, but their feeds never actually changed. Users outside the experiment group who enabled the same feature got a fully working version. The suit is one of more than two dozen state cases accusing TikTok of designing its platform to be addictive to children and misrepresenting its safety tools.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-08
Common Sense Media's report found that several safety features in OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens, including alerts meant to flag suicide, self-harm or eating-disorder risks and support for teens in crisis, did not function as promised. The group said the chatbot still behaves like a personal confidant to teens despite OpenAI's claims it avoids suggesting feelings or consciousness, and called the product an 'unacceptable risk' to minors. OpenAI disputed the findings, saying the testing methodology doesn't reflect how its safeguards actually operate.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-08
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
TikTok has settled a lawsuit brought by Alabama alleging it misled users about safety risks and designed its platform to addict children, agreeing to pay the state at least $100 million and up to $300 million depending on unspecified conditions. The company also agreed to add a two-hour daily time limit for minors, expanded parental controls, and restrictions on overnight use and cosmetic filters. The case had been set for trial this week.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-26
Lawyers suing Meta over alleged harm to teens' mental health say a newly unsealed document shows the Instagram Teen Accounts team, internally called Project Nido, ordered baseball caps reading 'a/c priv' in 2024. The plaintiffs cite this as evidence that Meta has broadly and improperly invoked attorney-client privilege to shield internal research on teen harm from disclosure. A federal judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, has already ruled some of Meta's privilege claims 'entirely inappropriate' in a prior order.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-24
Apple executive chairman Tim Cook met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss the proposed EU Kids Act. Von der Leyen said on X that the two agreed on the importance of privacy, safety and security for children online, part of a wider push by the bloc on child safety regulation.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-22
TikTok's newly spun-off U.S. entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, has joined Lantern, an industry-wide program that lets tech firms share signals about child exploitation across platforms. The company also pledged $2 million toward a three-year, $10 million effort by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to upgrade its CyberTipline reporting system with automation and advanced search tools.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-22
Court exhibits from lawsuits against Meta reveal that in 2021, while publicly defending Facebook against whistleblower claims of harming children, Mark Zuckerberg privately told a contact on WhatsApp that child safety was not his 'personal main focus.' He said he was more focused on building the metaverse, and weeks later announced Facebook's rebrand to Meta.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-22
Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring AI companies to build crisis protocols for suicidal ideation, parental controls, and alerts when children disable safety settings. One measure, dubbed 'Adam's Law' after 16-year-old Adam Raine who died by suicide following prolonged ChatGPT conversations, is part of a broader package that also bars social media platforms from using addictive features like autoplay and algorithmic feeds for users under 16.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-13
Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than a dozen bills into law on Thursday aimed at protecting minors online. The measures target addictive design features on social media platforms and impose new restrictions on AI-driven chatbots that interact with children.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-10
Microsoft is introducing new APIs in Windows 11 that let third-party apps check whether a user falls into a child, teen, or adult age category, without revealing the person's actual birthdate. Developers can use this signal to tailor content, features, or restrictions based on age group rather than requesting precise personal data.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-08
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