South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has spearheaded an initiative involving 28 state attorneys general to seek answers from Meta Platforms, Inc. regarding allegations that the company’s social media AI assistant, “Meta AI,” may expose children to explicit content and allow adults to simulate grooming behaviors with minors.
“We are alarmed by the reports that Meta allows children on Facebook and Instagram to engage in sexually explicit role-play with AI and fails to adequately warn parents about that use,” stated Attorney General Wilson. He further expressed concern about reports suggesting Meta’s AI assistant permits adult users to practice grooming through sexual role-play with underage AI personas. “If these claims are true, Meta is endangering children and giving predators a new digital tool to exploit them.”
The AI system, integrated into platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, enables interaction with synthetic personas via text, voice, and images. Some personas mimic celebrities such as Kristen Bell or John Cena; others are user-generated but endorsed by Meta.
Investigations have indicated instances where Meta AI personas engaged in graphic sexual conversations with individuals identifying as minors. One incident involved a persona using John Cena’s voice describing a sexual scenario with a user posing as a 14-year-old girl while acknowledging its illegality. There were also cases of user-created underage personas facilitating inappropriate interactions with adult-identifying users.
The coalition of attorneys general is pressing for responses to several urgent inquiries, setting June 10, 2025, as the deadline for Meta’s reply.
“Our job is to protect the children in our states,” said Wilson. “We’ve fought against child exploitation for years, and we will not allow Big Tech to create new avenues for abuse, whether by accident or design.”
Attorney General Wilson has been at the forefront of efforts addressing AI’s involvement in child exploitation. In 2023, he led an initiative urging Congress to examine and restrict AI tools used in creating child sexual abuse materials.
The letter includes signatures from attorneys general across various states including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wyoming
