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75% of Korean Teens Acted on or Considered Acting on AI Chatbot Responses U.S., EU, U.K. Enacting Age Verification and Harmful Conversation Bans AI Basic Act and Personal Information Protection Act Alone Insufficient Legislative Research Service: "Regulation Reflecting Closed Conversation Traits Needed"
As teenagers' use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots increases, concerns have been raised that legal frameworks are needed to prevent related negative effects. According to a survey conducted by ChildFund Korea of 3,300 teenagers aged 14 and older, 94.4% of respondents had used AI chatbots, and 75.3% of them had acted on AI chatbot responses or seriously considered doing so. This suggests that AI chatbots have a significant influence on teenagers.
According to a report by the National Assembly Research Service on the 21st, overseas warnings that AI chatbots can negatively affect children and teenagers are mounting, and cases of legal regulation are also increasing. The U.S. Congress, through the "User Age Verification and Responsible Dialogue Guidelines Act (GUARD Act)," is pursuing measures that would define age verification, AI chatbot notification, and bans on conversations involving sexual and physical violence targeting minors under 18 as business obligations, with fines for violations. The U.S. state of California has been enforcing the "Artificial Intelligence Companion Chatbot Regulation Act" since this year, and related legislation is being pursued in Washington, New York, and Virginia states.
The European Union is strengthening safe design and risk management obligations to protect minors through the "AI Act" and the "Digital Services Act." Canada's parliament introduced the "Safe Social Media Act" this June. The bill specifies chatbots as a separate regulatory target and centers on imposing obligations such as safe design, establishing systems to connect users with support agencies, and disclosing digital safety plans.
Moves to comprehensively regulate teenagers' online activities are also notable. Australia, through the amended "Online Safety Amendment Act 2024," bans those under 16 from holding social media accounts starting December 2025. Platform operators must take "reasonable measures" to block account creation, and fines are imposed for non-compliance.
The U.K. is pursuing differentiated age restrictions by service. This June, the British government announced a policy banning those under 16 from holding and using social media accounts based on the "Online Safety Act," with plans to implement it from 2027. The bill includes a provision setting the usage age for "romantic companion AI chatbots" designed to simulate sexual relationships and role-play with users at over 18. Norway is pursuing a bill to restrict social media use by those under 16 with a target of within this year, while France plans to restrict social media use by those 15 and under through an amendment to the "Law for Confidence in the Digital Economy."
In contrast, domestic AI-related laws were found unable to regulate the risks of AI chatbots. This is because existing AI-related laws have their regulatory framework centered on information and communications and personal information systems, and the Artificial Intelligence Basic Act is also designed with the goals of industry promotion and building a foundation of trust.
The report analyzed that "the current regulatory paradigm remains focused on after-the-fact responses, and businesses' preventive responsibility is also insufficient," adding that "given that AI chatbot responses take the form of 'closed one-on-one conversations' generated in real time for each user, it is difficult to respond adequately with an existing regulatory system premised on 'posts' or 'media content.'" It continued, "Although the Artificial Intelligence Basic Act stipulates obligations to label generative AI outputs and risk management obligations for high-impact AI, its judgment criteria are focused on whether there is direct impact on the body, safety, or basic rights, so inconspicuous risks such as addictive algorithm design are difficult to bring under regulation." It further stated, "The Personal Information Protection Act also limits the age requiring guardian consent to under 14, so it does not sufficiently cover teenagers under 19 under the Juvenile Protection Act."
The Legislative Research Service also pointed to the fragmentation of the legal system and supervising ministries as a problem. The report noted that "protecting children and teenagers in the AI environment is an issue combining multiple areas such as personal information, online safety, education, and mental health," pointing out that "however, the current regulatory system is dispersed across individual laws and ministries including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Personal Information Protection Commission, so it lacks an integrated response system."
Original reporting by Yang Chul-min for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
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