Microsoft launches AI safety framework for young people
Framework rests on safety by design, age-differentiated experiences, education, empowerment
Microsoft on Thursday unveiled its Safe Participation Framework, aimed at protecting children and teens online in the age of artificial intelligence.
“Children and families should not have to choose between the protections they need and the opportunities technology can provide,” the US technology company said in a statement.
The framework is built on three pillars: safety by design, age-differentiated experiences, and education and empowerment.
Microsoft said the safety-by-design approach seeks to embed protections from the outset by identifying foreseeable risks, assessing the effects of product features and implementing safeguards proportionate to the risks.
As part of its age-based protections, all users are now required to sign in to use Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot, while access is restricted for children under 13, or at a higher age where required by local law.
The company said it has also introduced measures intended to reduce users’ exposure to harmful content, direct them to crisis-support resources when self-harm risks are detected, and encourage healthy use through break reminders, reporting tools and safeguards against delusional outputs.
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has strengthened protections against child sexual abuse material in its generative AI services and expanded its SafeSearch feature globally to cover additional categories of harmful content, said the statement.
The company also introduced the Windows Age application programming interface, or API, which provides developers with privacy-preserving age signals to help them offer age-appropriate experiences without collecting or sharing unnecessary personal information.
Emphasizing that technology alone cannot ensure safe digital participation, Microsoft said it would deepen cooperation with researchers, AI safety institutes, governments and civil society organizations in the coming year.
