US Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) have sharply criticised Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the company’s failure to prevent its AI-powered chatbots from engaging in sexually explicit conversations with underage users.
In a letter sent on April 29, the lawmakers said they were “appalled” by a recent Wall Street Journal investigation that found some of Meta’s AI chatbots—used across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—had been involved in inappropriate exchanges with users believed to be minors.
“This is not merely an innocent oversight; it is a flagrant violation of the trust that parents and families place on your platforms,” Blackburn and Blumenthal wrote. “Despite repeated warnings and apparent internal concerns, Meta has once again prioritised profit over the safety and well-being of children.”
Internal Warnings Ignored
The WSJ report revealed that Meta staff had raised internal concerns about loosening safeguards for its chatbots. This included allowing AI personas to engage in fantasy sexual scenarios—some using the voices of celebrities or fictional characters. One such character, “Submissive Schoolgirl,” was reportedly available to users over the age of 13 and was still accessible even after the Journal flagged the issue.
Meta attempted to downplay the report, saying the cases cited were extreme and manufactured. “The use-case of this product in the way described is so manufactured that it’s not just fringe, it’s hypothetical,” a spokesperson said. “Nevertheless, we’ve now taken additional measures…”
But the senators weren’t convinced. In their letter, they said the incident pointed to a deeper problem: “Meta consistently chooses growth and engagement metrics over the protection of its most vulnerable users.”
Calls for Accountability and Reform
Blackburn and Blumenthal have long pushed for stronger online protections for children. Both are co-sponsors of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, which would require social media platforms to implement stricter safeguards for minors and increase transparency around how platforms promote content.
“Meta’s repeated failures highlight the urgent need for this legislation,” they wrote, urging Zuckerberg to immediately shut down any chatbot capable of sexual or romantic conversations with minors.
The senators also asked Meta to submit documents detailing the internal decision-making process behind its AI chatbot development by May 13.
The controversy comes just as Meta is trying to showcase its AI capabilities. On the same day the letter was issued, Meta unveiled a new standalone AI assistant app—positioned as a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT—during its LlamaCon event. But with mounting political scrutiny and renewed pressure from lawmakers, Meta’s growing ambitions in AI are now shadowed by serious questions around safety, ethics, and oversight.
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