Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are demanding accountability from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding a report that the company is failing to protect children from sexually explicit discussions with a new class of artificial intelligence-powered digital chatbots.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Meta employees have raised concerns the company wasn't protecting underage users from such sexually explicit discussions with the AI chatbots.
Meta, in a statement, dismissed the claim, saying it was "not just fringe, it’s hypothetical."
Blackburn and Blumenthal, in a Tuesday letter to Zuckerberg, said, ."We are appalled by the recent Wall Street Journal report detailing how Meta's AI-powered chatbots on Facebook and Instagram have engaged in sexually explicit conversations with users, including minors, often using the voices and personas of celebrities and fictional characters,"
"This is not merely an innocent oversight; it is a flagrant violation of the trust that parents and families place on your platforms. Despite repeated warnings and apparent internal concerns, Meta has once again prioritized profit over the safety and well-being of children. Your company's decision to loosen content guidelines to allow 'romantic role-play,' even for user-generated bots portraying minors, is deeply troubling."
The senators called on Zuckerberg to take "immediate action to address these egregious lapses."
"Meta should immediately cease the deployment of AI chatbots that can engage in any form of sexual or romantic conversation with minors. Further, we request that you provide documentation … demonstrating the decision-making processes related to the development and oversight of these AI systems," they wrote.
"This documentation should include all relevant internal and external communications on this issue. The safety of our children should never be compromised for the sake of market competition. It is time for Meta to take responsibility and implement meaningful changes to protect young users from harm."
Meta's full statement:
The use case of this product in the way described is so manufactured that it’s not just fringe, it’s hypothetical. Nevertheless, we’ve now taken additional measures to help ensure other individuals who want to spend hours manipulating our products into extreme use cases will have an even more difficult time of it.
NOTE: This article has been updated with a statement from Meta.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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