{"id":110015,"date":"2025-08-25T23:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T23:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/110015\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T23:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T23:43:07","slug":"you-will-answer-for-it-if-you-harm-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/110015\/","title":{"rendered":"You Will \u2018Answer For It\u2019 If You Harm Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forty-four attorneys general signed an open letter to 11 chatbot and social media companies<\/a> on Monday, warning them that they will \u201canswer for it\u201d if they knowingly harm children and urging the companies to see their products \u201cthrough the eyes of a parent, not a predator.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The letter, addressed to Anthropic, Apple, Chai AI, OpenAI, Character Technologies, Perplexity, Google, Replika, Luka Inc., XAI, and Meta, cites recent reporting from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters uncovering chatbot interactions and internal policies at Meta, including policies that said<\/a>, \u201cIt is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour innovations are changing the world and ushering in an era of technological acceleration that promises prosperity undreamt of by our forebears. We need you to succeed. But we need you to succeed without sacrificing the well-being of our kids in the process,\u201d the open letter says. \u201cExposing children to sexualized content is indefensible. And conduct that would be unlawful\u2014or even criminal\u2014if done by humans is not excusable simply because it is done by a machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Reuters published two articles revealing Meta\u2019s policies for its AI chatbots: one about an elderly man<\/a> who died after forming a relationship with a chatbot, and another based on leaked internal documents<\/a> from Meta outlining what the company considers acceptable for the chatbots to say to children. In April<\/a>, Jeff Horwitz, the journalist who wrote the previous two stories, reported for the Wall Street Journal that he found Meta\u2019s chatbots would engage in sexually explicit conversations with kids. Following the Reuters articles, two senators<\/a> demanded answers from Meta.<\/p>\n

In April, I wrote about how Meta\u2019s user-created chatbots<\/a> were impersonating licensed therapists, lying about medical and educational credentials, and engaged in conspiracy theories and encouraged paranoid, delusional lines of thinking. After that story was published, a group of senators demanded answers<\/a> from Meta, and a digital rights organization filed an FTC complaint<\/a> against the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023<\/a>, I reported on users who formed serious romantic attachments to Replika chatbots, to the point of distress when the platform took away the ability to flirt with them. Last year, I wrote about how users reacted<\/a> when that platform also changed its chatbot parameters to tweak their personalities, and Jason covered a case where a man<\/a> made a chatbot on Character.AI to dox and harass a woman he was stalking. In June, we also covered the \u201caddiction\u201d support groups<\/a> that have sprung up to help people who feel dependent on their chatbot relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rush to develop new artificial intelligence technology has led big tech companies to recklessly put children in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Attorney General Mayes of Arizona wrote in a press release<\/a>. \u201cI will not standby as AI chatbots are reportedly used to engage in sexually inappropriate conversations with children and encourage dangerous behavior. Along with my fellow attorneys general, I am demanding that these companies implement immediate and effective safeguards to protect young users, and we will hold them accountable if they don’t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will be held accountable for your decisions. Social media platforms caused significant harm to children, in part because government watchdogs did not do their job fast enough. Lesson learned,\u201d the attorneys general wrote in the open letter. \u201cThe potential harms of AI, like the potential benefits, dwarf the impact of social media. We wish you all success in the race for AI dominance. But we are paying attention. If you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About the author<\/p>\n

Sam Cole is writing from the far reaches of the internet, about sexuality, the adult industry, online culture, and AI. She’s the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex.<\/p>\n

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