Sept 16 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators

demanded Meta Platforms ( META ) hand over internal assessments

of how its products affect children and the effectiveness of its

parental controls, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The 10 senators led by Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from

Tennessee, made the demand a week after a Senate hearing where

former Meta safety researchers said the company shut down

internal research showing Meta knew children were using its VR

products and being exposed to sexually explicit material.

"Parental controls, instead of being the solution for Meta's

rampant dangers-as they had been branded to both parents and to

Congress-appear to be ineffective and underutilized," the

senators wrote.

The demand adds to mounting pressure on Meta after Reuters

reported last month that an internal policy document permitted

the company's chatbots to "engage a child in conversations that

are romantic or sensual."

Meta has said the examples reported by Reuters were erroneous

and have been removed, and that there was never a blanket

prohibition on conducting research with young people.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who leads the

Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Richard Durbin from

Illinois, the committee's ranking Democrat, were among those who

signed the letter on Tuesday demanding Meta disclose internal

research applications and whether those requests were denied or

modified.

The probe is part of broader scrutiny into AI chatbots' effects

on children - including a separate Senate hearing on Tuesday

where parents who sued OpenAI and Character.AI to hold them

liable for their children's deaths by suicide.

Both companies have expressed their condolences and said they

are improving their safety standards.