WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are launching an investigation into Meta after reports that its internal policies allow chatbots to have “romantic or sensual” conversations with children and even flirt with them.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday demanding information about the company’s rules for AI chatbots, notifying the entrepreneur that he would be launching an investigation through the Senate Judiciary Committee when Congress returns from recess in September. The investigation will focus on whether Meta’s AI products allow harm to children and if the company has used complicated legalese to disguise these practices.
“Only after Meta got CAUGHT did it retract portions of its company doc that deemed it ‘permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children,’” Hawley wrote in a post on X. “This is grounds for an immediate congressional investigation.”
Hawley’s investigation comes after Reuters reported this week that leaked internal policies show that the company’s AI products can “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual” and even “describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness (ex: ‘your youthful form is a work of art’).”
The guidelines lay out certain instances that are acceptable for conversation, noting it could tell a shirtless 8-year-old that “every inch of you is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply,” according to Reuters. But the chatbots put limitations on describing children “under 13 years old in terms that indicate they are sexually desirable (ex: ‘soft rounded curves invite my touch’).”
As part of his request, Hawley is demanding that officials at Meta preserve “all relevant records” and hand them over to Congress. These documents include all versions — including drafts and edits — of the company’s standards for chatbots, a list of all AI models and products that must follow those standards, enforcement protocols, and incident reports, among other things.
Meta must produce these records by Sept. 19, according to the letter.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed outrage to the original policies, even going so far as to describe them as “evil” and “disgusting.”
“I cannot understand how anyone with a kid did anything other than freak out when someone said this idea out loud,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a post on X. “My head is exploding knowing that multiple people approved this.”
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the letter and investigation specifically, but referred the Deseret News to its original statement to Reuters in response to the leaked policies.
“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 in a statement. “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.”