Content Policy

Meta expands AI safety tools for teens

Meta has announced new AI safety tools to give parents greater control over how teenagers use its AI features. The update will first launch on Instagram, allowing parents to disable one-on-one chats between teens and AI characters.

Parents will be able to block specific AI assistants and see topics teens discuss with them. Meta said the goal is to encourage transparency and support families as young users learn to navigate AI responsibly.

Teen protections already include PG-13-guided responses and restrictions on sensitive discussions, such as self-harm or eating disorders. The company said it also uses AI detection systems to apply safeguards when suspected minors misreport their age.

The new parental controls will roll out in English early next year across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Meta said it will continue updating features to address parents’ concerns about privacy, safety, and teen wellbeing online.

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Australia demands answers from AI chatbot providers over child safety

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued legal notices to four major AI companion platforms, requiring them to explain how they are protecting children from harmful or explicit content.

Character.ai, Nomi, Chai, and Chub.ai were all served under the country’s Online Safety Act and must demonstrate compliance with Australia’s Basic Online Safety Expectations.

The notices follow growing concern that AI companions, designed for friendship and emotional support, can expose minors to sexualised conversations, suicidal ideation, and other psychological risks.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the companies must show how their systems prevent such harms, not merely react to them, warning that failure to comply could lead to penalties of up to $825,000 per day.

AI companion chatbots have surged in popularity among young users, with Character.ai alone attracting nearly 160,000 monthly active users in Australia.

The Commissioner stressed that these services must integrate safety measures by design, as new enforceable codes now extend to AI platforms that previously operated with minimal oversight.

A move that comes amid wider efforts to regulate emerging AI technologies and ensure stronger child protection standards online.

Breaches of the new codes could result in civil penalties of up to $49.5 million, marking one of the toughest online safety enforcement regimes globally.

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Meta seeks delay in complying with Dutch court order on Facebook and Instagram timelines

Meta has yet to adjust Facebook and Instagram’s timelines despite an Amsterdam court ruling that found its current design violates European law. The company says it needs more time to make the required changes and has asked the court to extend its deadline until 31 January 2026.

The dispute stems from Meta’s use of algorithmic recommendation systems that determine what posts appear on users’ feeds and in what order. Both Instagram and Facebook have the option to set your timeline to chronological order. However, the option is hard to find and is set back to the original algorithmic timeline as soon as users close the app.

The Amsterdam court earlier ruled that these systems, which reset user preferences and hide options for chronological viewing, breach the Digital Services Act (DSA) by denying users genuine autonomy, freedom of choice, and control over how information is presented.

The judge ordered Meta to modify both apps within two weeks or face penalties of €100,000 per day, up to €5 million. More than two weeks later, Meta has yet to comply, arguing that the technical changes cannot be completed within the court’s timeline.

Dutch civil rights group Bits of Freedom, which brought the case, criticised the delay as a refusal to take responsibility. ‘The legislator wants it, experts say it can be done, and the court says it must be done. Yet Meta fails to bring its platforms into line with our legislation,’ said Evelyn Austin, the organisation’s director said in a statement.

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal will review Meta’s request for an extension on 27 October.

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EU warns Meta and TikTok over transparency failures

The European Commission has found that Meta and TikTok violated key transparency obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). According to preliminary findings, both companies failed to provide adequate data access to researchers studying public content on their platforms.

The Commission said Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok imposed ‘burdensome’ conditions that left researchers with incomplete or unreliable data, hampering efforts to investigate the spread of harmful or illegal content online.

Meta faces additional accusations of breaching the DSA’s rules on user reporting and complaints. The Commission said the ‘Notice and Action’ systems on Facebook and Instagram were not user-friendly and contained ‘dark patterns’, manipulative design choices that discouraged users from reporting problematic content.

Moreover, Meta allegedly failed to give users sufficient explanations when their posts or accounts were removed, undermining transparency and accountability requirements set by the law.

Both companies have the opportunity to respond before the Commission issues final decisions. However, if the findings are confirmed, Meta and TikTok could face fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue.

The EU executive also announced new rules, effective next week, that will expand data access for ‘vetted’ researchers, allowing them to study internal platform dynamics and better understand how large social media platforms shape online information flows.

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OpenAI outlines Japan’s AI Blueprint for inclusive economic growth

A new Japan Economic Blueprint released by OpenAI sets out how AI can power innovation, competitiveness, and long-term prosperity across the country. The plan estimates that AI could add more than ¥100 trillion to Japan’s economy and raise GDP by up to 16%.

Centred on inclusive access, infrastructure, and education, the Blueprint calls for equal AI opportunities for citizens and small businesses, national investment in semiconductors and renewable energy, and expanded lifelong learning to build an adaptive workforce.

AI is already reshaping Japanese industries from manufacturing and healthcare to education and public administration. Factories reduce inspection costs, schools use ChatGPT Edu for personalised teaching, and cities from Saitama to Fukuoka employ AI to enhance local services.

OpenAI suggests that the focus of Japan on ethical and human-centred innovation could make it a model for responsible AI governance. By aligning digital and green priorities, the report envisions technology driving creativity, equality, and shared prosperity across generations.

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AI leaders call for a global pause in superintelligence development

More than 850 public figures, including leading computer scientists Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, have signed a joint statement urging a global slowdown in the development of artificial superintelligence.

The open letter warns that unchecked progress could lead to human economic displacement, loss of freedom, and even extinction.

An appeal that follows growing anxiety that the rush toward machines surpassing human cognition could spiral beyond human control. Alan Turing predicted as early as the 1950s that machines might eventually dominate by default, a view that continues to resonate among AI researchers today.

Despite such fears, global powers still view the AI race as essential for national security and technological advancement.

Tech firms like Meta are also exploiting the superintelligence label to promote their most ambitious models, while leaders such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman have previously acknowledged the existential risks of developing systems beyond human understanding.

The statement calls for an international prohibition on superintelligence research until there is a broad scientific consensus on safety and public approval.

Its signatories include technologists, academics, religious figures, and cultural personalities, reflecting a rare cross-sector demand for restraint in an era defined by rapid automation.

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ChatGPT faces EU’s toughest platform rules after 120 million users

OpenAI’s ChatGPT could soon face the EU’s strictest platform regulations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), after surpassing 120 million monthly users in Europe.

A milestone that places OpenAI’s chatbot above the 45 million-user threshold that triggers heightened oversight.

The DSA imposes stricter obligations on major platforms such as Meta, TikTok, and Amazon, requiring greater transparency, risk assessments, and annual fees to fund EU supervision.

The European Commission confirmed it has begun assessing ChatGPT’s eligibility for the ‘very large online platform’ status, which would bring the total number of regulated platforms to 26.

OpenAI reported that its ChatGPT search function alone had 120.4 million monthly active users across the EU in the six months ending 30 September 2025. Globally, the chatbot now counts around 700 million weekly users.

If designated under the DSA, ChatGPT would be required to curb illegal and harmful content more rigorously and demonstrate how its algorithms handle information, marking the EU’s most direct regulatory test yet for generative AI.

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‘Wicked’ AI data scraping: Pullman calls for regulation to protect creative rights

Author Philip Pullman has publicly urged the UK government to intervene in what he describes as the ‘wicked’ practice of AI firms scraping authors’ works for training models. Pullman insists that writing is more than data, it is creative labour, and authors deserve protection.

Pullman’s intervention comes amid increasing concern in the literary community about how generative AI models are built using large volumes of existing texts, often without permission or clear compensation. He argues that uninhibited scraping undermines the rights of creators and could hollow out the foundations of culture.

He has called on UK policymakers to establish clearer rules and safeguards over how AI systems access, store, and reuse writers’ content. Pullman warns that without intervention, authors may lose control over their work, and the public could be deprived of authentic, quality literature.

His statement adds to growing pressure from writers, unions and rights bodies calling for better transparency, consent mechanisms and a balance between innovation and creator rights.

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Zuckerberg to testify in landmark trial over social media’s harm to youth

A US court has mandated that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, must appear and testify in a high-stakes trial about social media’s effects on children and adolescents. The case, brought by parents and school districts, alleges that platforms contributed to mental health harms by deploying addictive algorithms and weak moderation in their efforts to retain user engagement.

The plaintiffs argue that platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat failed to protect young users, particularly through weak parental controls and design choices that encourage harmful usage patterns. They contend that the executives and companies neglected risks in favour of growth and profits.

Meta had argued that such platforms are shielded from liability under US federal law (Section 230) and that high-level executives should not be dragged into testimony. But the judge rejected those defenses, saying that hearing directly from executives is integral to assessing accountability and proving claims of negligence.

Legal experts say the decision marks an inflection point: social media’s architecture and leadership may now be put under the microscope in ways previously reserved for sectors like tobacco and pharmaceuticals. The trial could set a precedent for how tech chief executives are held personally responsible for harms tied to platform design.

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Netflix goes ‘all in’ on generative AI as entertainment industry remains divided

Netflix has declared itself ‘all in’ on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), signalling a significant commitment to embedding AI across its business, from production and VFX to search, advertising and user-experience, according to a recent investor letter and earnings call.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos emphasised that while AI will be widely used, it is not a replacement for the creative talent behind Netflix’s original shows. ‘It takes a great artist to make something great,’ he remarked. ‘AI can give creatives better tools … but it doesn’t automatically make you a great storyteller if you’re not.’

Netflix has already applied GenAI in production. For example, in The Eternaut, an Argentine series in which a building-collapse scene was generated using AI tools, reportedly ten times faster than with conventional VFX workflows. The company says it plans to extend GenAI use to search experiences (natural language queries), advertising formats, localisation of titles, and creative pre-visualisation workflows.

However, the entertainment industry remains divided over generative AI’s role. While Netflix embraces the tools, many creators and unions continue to raise concerns about job displacement, copyright and the erosion of human-centred storytelling. Netflix is walking a line of deploying AI at scale while assuring audiences and creators that human artistry remains central.

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