Topic
Policy efforts to limit minors' exposure to online harms such as addiction, harassment, pornography and fraud.
Florida AG James Uthmeier asked a court for six orders against OpenAI, including outside approval of new models and a ban on "conversation prolongation." Five of the six govern the shipped product, including minors' access and whether ChatGPT may present itself as human.
Reality
Gavin Newsom signed California's SB 1119 on September 10, 2026, setting July 1, 2027 as the start date for its central duties on chatbots used by minors. Companion-chatbot operators with California users have 294 days to build age checks, child-safe defaults and a pre-launch risk assessment into the product.
Reality
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked a court on September 28 to bar OpenAI from developing any AI model without independent third-party approval. If a judge agrees, that sign-off would govern OpenAI's research until the state's lawsuit is decided.
Reality
Florida AG James Uthmeier's 49-page filing asks a state court to bar OpenAI from developing new models until an independent third party approves. OpenAI says it already paused training its top models, so the development fight is over who decides when training resumes.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishersReality
TikTok agreed to a $100 million settlement with Alabama that switches off the personalized For You feed for minors within 45 days. Its design terms give other state attorneys general a model to ask for in their own child-safety suits.
Reality
TikTok will pay Alabama at least $100 million and limit underage users to two hours a day in its first state settlement over teen social media addiction. It could owe up to $300 million if the features don't ship, and the list resembles what Meta agreed to in settling with 47 states.
Perspective Coverage
5 publishersReality
Discord says a behavioral model sorts the vast majority of its users into teen (13-17) or adult (18+) groups without asking for ID. How well that protects teens depends on how often the model mistakes a teen for an adult.
Reality
Blackburn and Blumenthal cite a sealed 2023 document showing TikTok withheld an anti-echo-chamber safeguard from 10% of US users, and they want a list of every other such test.
Reality
Meta limits its Muse AI agent to users 18 and over while selling it through Jolly, a dress-up mascot, and a planned Tamagotchi-style device. Fairplay says the character appeals to preschoolers, and Meta answers with extra age checks it has not described.
Reality
A judge signed off on the payout, but the enforceable part is a list of product defaults only a parent can undo. Meta's rivals had the terms written for them.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishersReality
ChatGPT is the first AI assistant pulled into the Digital Services Act. It was filed as a search engine, which puts annual risk assessments, independent audits and researcher data access on OpenAI Ireland by the end of November.
Perspective Coverage
9 publishersReality
One in five Australian under-16s still used TikTok and Snapchat after 4.7 million accounts were restricted, according to a parental-control firm. Other governments are copying the approach with no evidence yet that it makes children safer.
Reality
California now holds chatbot companies liable for failing to take reasonable measures against harmful outputs. OpenAI, Google, Meta and Amazon all sat in the negotiations that wrote the standard.
Reality
The EU Kids Act would bar under-15s from social media and AI chat services, while the age-verification wallet the Commission finished in April certifies 18 and can be adapted to 13. Member states are meant to be tooled by the end of 2026.
Perspective Coverage
5 publishersReality
A draft seen by WIRED would bar chatbots from simulating emotions with anyone under 18 and stop them carrying memory between conversations. Fines reach 6% of worldwide turnover. The scoping work lands on product teams.
Reality
The Commission adopted the proposal on September 18. Under-13s would be kept off social media, and 13- to 15-year-olds would only get parent-linked accounts carrying a 60-minute daily cap that platforms have to enforce.
Reality
The Trump administration used Australia's own public consultation to ask that American platforms be exempted from the proposed under-18 duty of care, a request that lands while the exposure draft is still being written.
Reality
The Special Panel on Child Safety Online filed its final report in July and no requirement is adopted yet. The work that transfers today is checking whether the account record can hold an age band at all.
Reality
The under-16 ban Australia passed in December 2025 now has company in Brazil, Canada and the EU, and each version picks its own age and its own list of covered surfaces. Two of the nine are actually in force.
Reality
The Child Account tools in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 put a parent's approval in front of new websites, contacts and downloads, and every device in a Family Sharing group has to be on the 27 releases first.
Reality
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