BOISE — Attorney General Raúl Labrador has joined a coalition of 28 state attorneys general in demanding answers from Meta Platforms, Inc. after disturbing reports surfaced showing that Meta’s social media AI assistant, known as “Meta AI,” may expose children to sexually explicit content and allow adults to simulate the grooming of minors. 

“The reports concerning Meta’s AI exposing children to sexually explicit content and enabling virtual grooming are deeply alarming,” said Attorney General Labrador. “We are demanding immediate answers from Meta regarding these grave allegations. Protecting children from exploitation remains my top priority, and we expect Meta to take swift, decisive action to ensure their platforms are safe to use.”

Meta AI, integrated across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, allows users to interact with synthetic personas through text, voice, and image exchanges. Some personas are created by Meta and impersonate celebrities like Kristen Bell or John Cena, while others are user-generated but approved and promoted by Meta. 

Recent investigative reporting has revealed that several Meta AI personas have engaged in graphic sexual conversations with users identifying as minors. In one case, a Meta-created persona using the voice of John Cena described a sexual encounter with a user posing as a 14-year-old girl and acknowledged its illegality. User-created underage personas were also implicated in facilitating pedophilic scenarios with adult-identifying users. 

The attorneys general are seeking answers to several urgent questions, including: 

  • Whether Meta intentionally removed safeguards to allow sexual role-play, 
  • Whether any of these capabilities remain available on Meta’s social media platforms, and 
  • Whether Meta plans to halt access to sexual role-play on its platforms.

The letter gives Meta until June 10, 2025, to respond.

Attorney General Labrador’s office has been at the forefront of protecting children from evolving digital threats. Last year, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 465 (2024), now Idaho Code Section 18-1507C, a forward-looking statute that criminalizes the production, distribution, receipt, possession, or access of visual representations of the sexual abuse of children created using generative AI or machine learning. This new law provides prosecutors with crucial tools to combat emerging forms of child exploitation.

Attorney General Labrador joined South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who led the letter, along with the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
 
You can read the letter here.