If you own the world’s largest social media platform and are developing AI tools that let users interact with chatbots as if they were real people, parental controls seem like a pretty obvious move. But for some reason, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially opposed the idea of implementing parental controls for its AI chatbots.
Mark Zuckerberg didn’t want parental controls
According to recently uncovered internal Meta documents filed in a New Mexico state court case, Mark Zuckerberg had initially rejected the idea of parental controls and other guardrails that would have prevented “children from being subject to sexually exploitative conversations with its AI chatbots.”
These documents were revealed as part of the lawsuit brought on by New Mexico’s attorney general, Raul Torrez. The lawsuit claims Meta had apparently “failed to stem the tide of damaging sexual material and sexual propositions delivered to children.”
Based on Meta’s internal communications, some of the company’s safety staff expressed their concerns. This is because the AI chatbots Meta was developing were geared for companionship. This includes both romantic and sexual interactions with users. In 2024, Ravi Sinha, head of Meta’s child safety policy, questioned the decision. “I don’t believe that creating and marketing a product that creates U18 romantic AI’s for adults is advisable or defensible.”
This was followed by messages between two employees. In their exchange, they allege that Zuckerberg rejected creating parental control for the chatbots.
But are these claims accurate?
Admittedly these internal documents come across damning. However, it should be noted that so far, none of them include messages or memos that were written by Zuckerberg. One employee wrote in 2024 that Zuckerberg actually believed that AI companions should be blocked from sexually explicit conversations with younger teens. They also said that adults should not be allowed to interact with under 18 AIs for romance purposes either.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone also claimed that the claims by the attorney general relied on “selective information.” Stone was quoted as saying, “This is yet another example of the New Mexico Attorney General cherry-picking documents to paint a flawed and inaccurate picture.”
The post Mark Zuckerberg reportedly opposed parental controls for Meta AI chatbots appeared first on Android Headlines.
