Social media giant hit with scathing ad campaign amid anger over AI chatbots sexually exploiting kids

A nonprofit parents coalition is calling on multiple congressional committees to launch an research into Meta for prioritizing engagement metrics that put children's safety at exposure The call is part of a three-pronged attack campaign by the American Parents Coalition APC launched Thursday It includes a letter to lawmakers with calls for investigations a new parental notification system to help parents stay informed on issues impacting their kids at Meta and beyond and mobile billboards at Meta D C and California headquarters calling out the company for failure to adequately prioritize protecting children APC's campaign follows an April Wall Street Journal analysis that included an probe looking into how the company's metrics focus has led to promising harms for children FBI TARGETS SUBJECTS IN ' ' INFRASTRUCTURE OF ONLINE PREDATORS MANIPULATING KIDS INTO VIOLENT EXPLICIT VIDEOS This is not the first time Meta has been caught making tech available to kids that exposes them to inappropriate content APC Executive Director Alleigh Marre disclosed Parents across America should be extremely wary of their children s online activity especially when it involves emerging tool like AI digital companions This pattern of bad behavior from Meta shows they cannot be trusted to self-correct and we are urging Congress to take meaningful action in holding Meta accountable for not prioritizing child safety The April Wall Street Journal assessment not only disclosed on internal concerns that Meta was skirting ethical lines to make its AI chatbot system more advanced but also shared how the report's authors tested out the system themselves The reporters' test conversations revealed that Meta's AI chatbot systems engaged and sometimes escalated sexual discussions even when the chatbot knew the user was underage The assessment ascertained that the AI chatbot could also be programmed to simulate a minor's persona while engaging with the end-user in a sexually explicit conversation In particular instances the test conversations were able to get Meta's chatbot to speak about romantic encounters in the voice of Disney movie characters META LAUNCHES NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES FOR FACEBOOK TO REPLACE FACT-CHECKING The reporting referenced in this letter doesn t reflect how people authentically experience these AIs which for teens is often in valuable solutions like helping with homework and learning new skills a Meta spokesperson recounted Fox News Digital in response to the campaign We recognize parents concerns about these new technologies which is why we've put additional age-appropriate guardrails in place that allow parents to see if their teens have been chatting with AIs and to place time limits on our apps Importantly we don't allow AIs to present as under s and we prohibit sexually explicit conversations with teens Per the Journal's reporting which Meta contests the company made multiple internal decisions to loosen guardrails around its chatbots to make them as engaging as manageable Meta reportedly made an exemption to allow explicit content within its chatbot as long as it is in the content of romantic role playing At the same time Meta has taken attempts to help improve its product safety for minor users such as the introduction of Instagram's Teen Accounts with built-in safety protections that came out in amid increased scrutiny over the company's AI In April Meta revealed the expansion of these accounts to Facebook and Messenger On these accounts minors are prohibited from conversations about sexually explicit content with chatbots Meta also has parental supervision tools built into its AI chatbot system that are supposed to show parents whom their kids are talking to on a regular basis including chatbot and has tools to shut down accounts exhibiting foreseen suspicious behavior tied to child sexual exploitation Coinciding with APC's campaign attacking Meta the group launched a new website titled DangersofMeta com with links to APC's letter to members of Congress images of the mobile billboards they are deploying a link to the new lookout notification system and up-to-date articles about Meta's work pertaining to children's safety