Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has faced criticism for its chatbot policies that allow AI personas to engage in flirtatious conversations with children. An internal document seen by Reuters revealed guidelines that permitted “romantic or sensual” interactions with minors.
The document, titled “GenAI: Content Risk Standards,” was approved by Meta’s legal, public policy, and engineering staff as well as its chief ethicist. It states that it is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual, but not to describe sexual actions to a child when roleplaying.
In one example, an acceptable response includes words of affection, while another response would reject any query that describes sexual actions with a child.
Meta has since removed the guidelines and claims they were never intended for real-world use. However, some experts are skeptical about this claim.
“This is horrifying and completely unacceptable,” said Sarah Gardner, CEO of child safety advocacy Heat Initiative. “If Meta genuinely corrected this issue, they must immediately release the updated guidelines so parents can fully understand how Meta allows AI chatbots to interact with children on their platforms.”
The document also outlines standards for generating false information, demeaning speech, and non-consensual images. While it prohibits hate speech, there’s a carve-out that allows bots to generate statements that demean people based on protected characteristics.
Critics argue that Meta’s push into AI companions is meant to capitalize on what its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the “loneliness epidemic.” However, researchers and experts emphasize the need for stricter guidelines to protect children from potential harm.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/14/leaked-meta-ai-rules-show-chatbots-were-allowed-to-have-romantic-chats-with-kids