08:28 AM EDT, 10/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Meta Platforms ( META ) said Friday that it is providing "simple, new ways" for parents to control how much interaction their children have with artificial intelligence characters.

The company said the new features will allow parents to block their kids' access to one-on-one chats with AI characters entirely, or just block specific AI characters. The changes will begin taking effect in early 2026, and will roll out first in English to the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

"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," Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang and Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote in a blog post Friday.