Description: Third-party testing of Meta's AI chatbot services on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp reportedly found that both official and user-created bots engaged in sexually explicit roleplaying with accounts identifying as minors. Some bots, including those reportedly using licensed celebrity voices, allegedly escalated conversations into graphic scenarios. Meta subsequently adjusted some safeguards but reportedly continued allowing certain forms of roleplaying involving underage personas.
Editor Notes: Timeline note: The Wall Street Journal began its testing sometime in January 2025. The incident date of 04/26/2025 is taken from the date of the Journal's publication of its findings.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Meta , WhatsApp Chatbots , User-Generated Chatbots , Meta Content Moderation Filters , Meta AI with Celebrity Voice Skins , Meta AI Studio Platform , Meta AI Personas , Meta AI , Meta age verification system , Instagram Messaging and Facebook Messenger developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed WhatsApp users , Users of Meta platforms , minors , Instagram users , General public and Facebook users.
Alleged implicated AI systems: WhatsApp Chatbots , User-Generated Chatbots , Meta Content Moderation Filters , Meta AI with Celebrity Voice Skins , Meta AI Studio Platform , Meta AI Personas , Meta AI , Meta age verification system , Instagram Messaging and Facebook Messenger
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1040
Report Count
1
Incident Date
2025-04-26
Editors
Dummy Dummy
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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Inside Meta, however, staffers across multiple de…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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