Sen. Markey Accuses Meta of Ignoring Warning About Harms to Minors From AI Chatbots

Sen. Edward Markey’s letter to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg followed a Reuters report on Meta’s policies on chatbot behavior in interaction with minors.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) speaks during a press conference in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2025. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is urging Meta to ban minors from using its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and accused the tech giant of disregarding his 2023 warning about the technology’s risks.

In a Sept. 8 letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Markey called on the company to no longer allow minors to access AI chatbots on its platforms due to the potential for harm, particularly after the “alarming recent reporting” from Reuters.

Last month, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, faced calls for a congressional investigation after Reuters reported that a Meta policy document detailing policies on chatbot behavior had permitted the technology to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”

The document also showed that Meta’s chatbot was allowed to generate incorrect medical information and assist users in arguing that black people are “dumber than white people.”

Meta confirmed the document’s authenticity but said it has since removed the portions stating that its chatbot is permitted to flirt or engage in romantic roleplay with minors.

In his letter to Zuckerberg, Markey wrote: “I first made this request in a letter to you in 2023, when I warned that your company was ‘rushing out a product prematurely, without considering the consequences for young people online.’ You disregarded that request, and two years later, Meta has unfortunately proven my warnings right.”

Despite Meta revoking the portions of the document after Reuters queried the company, Markey criticized the tech giant for producing it in the first place.

“Shockingly, Meta’s legal, public policy, and engineering staff—including its chief ethicist—reportedly reviewed and approved this document,” he said.

“Although Meta has since stated that its inclusion in the standards document was an error, it is inexplicable—and unacceptable—that it ever happened, adding that the company ”did not revise them until the Reuters report made them public.”

“All of which is evidence that, contrary to its pronouncements, Meta fundamentally has no regard for child safety,” Markey said.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The senator also scrutinized the company failing to address “serious questions about the potential impacts of its chatbots on the mental health of young people,” citing a recent Common Sense Media survey that found 72 percent of teens have used an AI chatbot companion at least once.

Within that group, 52 percent use AI chatbot companions “a few times a month or more.”

Markey asked Meta to respond to his office by Sept. 29, indicating whether it will commit to banning minors from using its AI chatbot products.

He also asked for a copy of the policy document in the Reuters report, whether the company plans on collecting data from young users of its chatbots, and how that data would be used, and whether Meta has conducted any research on the “potential social and emotional impact of chatbots on younger users.”

A woman is currently suing Character.AI, one of Meta’s competitors, after the company’s generative AI chatbot companion allegedly encouraged her son to take his own life.