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Lawmakers across the aisle have blasted Meta, with some calling for a congressional investigation, after a report found the tech giant greenlit its AI chatbots to have “romantic” and “sensual” conversations with children.
The bipartisan reaction comes after Reuters first reported on an internal policy document from Meta, which is the parent company to Facebook, that revealed the chatbot behavior. Meta has since confirmed the authenticity of the document, though said the company has removed portions that stated it is permitted for chatbots to engage in romantic talks with kids.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that his committee will dive into whether Meta’s generative-Al products enabled exploitation, deception or other criminal harms to children.
“To take but one example, your internal rules purportedly permit an Al chatbot to comment that an 8-year-old’s body is ‘a work of art’ of which ’every inch… is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply,’” wrote Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism.
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Congressional lawmakers backed a probe into Meta after a report revealed an internal document that permitted its AI chatbots to have “romantic” and “sensual” conversations with children. (File / Getty Images)
Hawley told Fox News Digital last week that the probe will look at whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards on AI.
“I already have an ongoing investigation into Meta’s stunning complicity with China — but Zuckerberg siccing his company’s AI chatbots on our kids called for another one,” Hawley said. “Big Tech will know no boundaries until Congress holds social media outlets accountable. And I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can agree that exploiting children’s innocence is a new low.”
Hawley penned a letter to Zuckerberg last week and said his committee will launch an investigation into Meta. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said the report shows why lawmakers must pass reforms to better protect children online, such as the Kids Online Safety Act.
“Meta’s exploitation of children is absolutely disgusting,” she wrote on X. “This report is only the latest example of why Big Tech cannot be trusted to protect underage users when they have refused to do so time and time again. It’s time to pass KOSA and protect kids.”
Democrats also slammed Meta over its “disgusting” and “disturbing” AI chatbot policies.
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“META Chat Bots that basically hit on kids – f— that,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, wrote on X. “This is disgusting and evil. I cannot understand how anyone with a kid did anything other than freak out when someone said this idea out loud. My head is exploding knowing that multiple people approved this.”
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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the policies “deeply disturbing and wrong,” adding that Section 230, a law that shields internet companies from liability for the content posted to their platforms, should not protect companies’ generative AI chatbots.
“Meta and Zuckerberg should be held fully responsible for any harm these bots cause,” he said.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the report “shows how critical safeguards are for AI — especially when the health and safety of kids is at risk.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| META | META PLATFORMS INC. | 767.37 | -17.86 | -2.27% |
Last week, a spokesperson for Meta confirmed to Fox News Digital that the document reviewed by Reuters was real but countered that “it does not accurately reflect our policies.”
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“We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,” the spokesperson said. “Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios. The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed.”
Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Reuters contributed to this report.
