{"id":13122,"date":"2025-08-17T08:45:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=13122"},"modified":"2025-08-17T08:45:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:45:32","slug":"senators-call-for-probe-into-meta-after-news-report-on-ai-conversations-with-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/17\/senators-call-for-probe-into-meta-after-news-report-on-ai-conversations-with-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Call for Probe Into Meta After News Report on AI Conversations With Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I think Meta is playing the heal so they can get the Kids Online Safety Act passed. And when it comes to legislation, you can pretty count on the title being deceptive and not representing the true intention. We’ll cover the EFF recap:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation also maintained its opposition. Activism director Jason Kelley said KOSA \u201cremains a dangerous and unconstitutional censorship bill\u201d and advocated instead for comprehensive privacy protections for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KOSA, Kelley said, \u201cwould still let federal and state officials decide what information can be shared online and how everyone can access lawful speech. It would still require an enormous number of websites, apps, and online platforms to filter and block legal and important speech. It would almost certainly still result in age verification requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2024\/2\/15\/24073878\/kids-online-safety-act-new-senate-support<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So censorship and a reason for identification, pushing towards digital ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/senators-call-for-probe-into-meta-after-news-report-on-ai-conversations-with-children-5901543<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
\u2018Meta and Zuckerberg should be held fully responsible for any harm these bots cause,\u2019 one senator said.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Senators
The offices of Meta in Menlo Park, Calif., on July 31, 2025. John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Jacob Burg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Republican Senators on Aug. 14 called for a congressional investigation into Meta Platforms, Facebook\u2019s parent company, after a recent news media report revealed an internal policy document that allowed the company\u2019s chatbots to have \u201cromantic or sensual\u201d conversations with a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Reuters reported<\/a> that it had viewed a Meta policy document detailing polices on chatbot behavior that permitted the technology to \u201cengage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,\u201d generate incorrect medical information, and assist users in arguing that black people are \u201cdumber than white people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Meta confirmed the authenticity of the document, the company said that after recently receiving questions from Reuters, it removed the portions stating that the chatbot is allowed to flirt or participate in romantic roleplay with children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, said the company is currently revising the documents and that those types of conversations with children should never have been permitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed,\u201d Stone told Reuters. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the X platform, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) criticized<\/a> the company for allegedly only making the changes after being questioned by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, only after Meta got CAUGHT did it retract portions of its company doc that deemed it \u2018permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children,\u2019\u201d Hawley said. \u201cThis is grounds for an immediate congressional investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said she supports a probe into Meta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Hawley called for an investigation, a Meta spokesperson reiterated the company\u2019s previous statement. However, the spokesperson declined to comment on Hawley\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackburn said the report underscores the need to pass reforms for better protection of children online, like the Kids Online Safety Act. The senator co-sponsored the bill, which passed in the Senate last year by a bipartisan 91\u20133 vote, but failed in the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill called for certain platforms, such as social media networks, to \u201ctake reasonable measures in the design and operation of products or services used by minors to prevent and mitigate certain harms that may arise from that use (e.g., sexual exploitation and online bullying).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally, covered platforms must provide (1) minors with certain safeguards, such as settings that restrict access to minors\u2019 personal data; and (2) parents or guardians with tools to supervise minors\u2019 use of a platform, such as control of privacy and account settings,\u201d the bill states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackburn reintroduced<\/a> the Kids Online Safety Act in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to protecting precious children online, Meta has failed miserably by every possible measure. Even worse, the company has turned a blind eye to the devastating consequences of how its platforms are designed,\u201d Blackburn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation would also explicitly define a \u201cduty of care\u201d that social media companies employ regarding minors\u2019 use of their products, focusing on the regulation of the companies and the platforms\u2019 designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Meta document states that the standards in question do not necessarily reflect \u201cideal or even preferable\u201d generative AI outputs, according to Reuters. However, the provocative outputs by bots have been permitted, the news outlet\u2019s analysis revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Epoch Times has not independently verified the document in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called the standards \u201cdeeply disturbing and wrong.\u201d He said Section 230, the law that protects internet companies from liability for statements or content posted on their platforms, should not extend to shielding the companies\u2019 generative AI chatbots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMeta and Zuckerberg should be held fully responsible for any harm these bots cause,\u201d Wyden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said Reuters\u2019s report \u201cshows how critical safeguards are for AI\u2014especially when the health and safety of kids is at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think Meta is playing the heal so they can get the Kids Online Safety Act passed. And when it comes to legislation, you can pretty count on the title being deceptive and not representing the true intention. We’ll cover the EFF recap: Nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation also maintained its opposition. Activism director Jason Kelley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13123,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13122\/revisions\/13123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}