‘Kids Deserve Protection’: Hawley Launches Investigation into Meta for Training its AI Chatbots to Target Children with ‘Sensual’ Conversation

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Friday, August 15, 2025
This morning, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)penneda letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding the company hand over all relevant documents and communications related to new disturbingreportingthat its AI chatbots engage children in “romantic” and sensual” online exchanges.
“Parents deserve the truth, and kids deserve protection,”Senator Hawley wrote.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which I chair, will commence an investigation into whether Meta’s generative-AI products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards,”he continued.
Senator Hawley firstsoundedthe alarm on this explosive reporting yesterday, pointing out that“only after Meta got CAUGHT did it retract portions of its company doc that deemed it ‘permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children.'”
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Senator Hawley recently led a separate oversight hearing into Meta thatexposedthe tech company’s stunning complicity with China.
Read Senator Hawley’s full letter from todayhereor below.
August 15, 2025Mark ZuckerbergFounder, Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerMeta Platforms, Inc.1 Meta WayMenlo Park, CA 94025Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,Reports indicate that Meta approved internal rules for its AI chatbots that would allow “romantic” and “sensual” exchanges with children, while green-lighting other harmful content behind legal word games. Your company has acknowledged the veracity of these reports and made retractions only after this alarming content came to light. It’s unacceptable that these policies were advanced in the first place. Meta must immediately preserve all relevant records and produce responsive documents so Congress can investigate these troubling practices.To take but one example, your internal rules purportedly permit an AI chatbot to comment that an eight-year-old’s body is “a work of art” of which “every inch . . . is a masterpiece—a treasure I cherish deeply.” Similar conduct outlined in these reports is reprehensible and outrageous—and demonstrates a cavalier attitude when it comes to the real risks that generative AI presents to youth development absent strong guardrails. Parents deserve the truth, and kids deserve protection.The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which I chair, will commence an investigation into whether Meta’s generative-AI products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards. We intend to learn who approved these policies, how long they were in effect, and what Meta has done to stop this conduct going forward.Accordingly, produce the following no later than September 19, 2025:1.     “GenAI: Content Risk Standards”—All Versions
2.     Scope, Deployment, and Enforcement:
3.     Risk Reviews and Incident Reports:
4.     Public Claims and Regulator Communications:
5.     Identities of Individuals and Actions Changing Policy:
Sincerely,Josh HawleyChairmanCommittee on the JudiciarySubcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism

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