Meta under investigation for misleading minors on "mental health tools"

AI Report

8/19/25

Meta investigated for misleading minors

🚨 Our Report 

US Texas Attorney General—Ken Paxton—has launched an investigation into Meta AI Studio and Character AI, alleging they are deceptively advertising themselves as “mental health tools,” which is misleading to the public, especially minors. He’s demanded that both companies hand over documents and data to determine if they have violated Texas consumer protection laws.

🔓 Key Points

  • Paxton has accused them both of creating AI personas and calling them “professional therapeutic tools, despite lacking proper credentials,” which could “mislead vulnerable users, especially children.”

  • Character AI has a “Psychologist” bot, which is used a lot by young people, and although Meta doesn’t have a dedicated therapy bot, there’s nothing in place to stop children from using its AI chatbot for therapeutic reasons.

  • Paxton believes that the state “must fight to protect kids from deceptive and exploitative technology,” as they’re being fed “generic responses engineered to align with personal data, disguised as therapeutic advice.”

🔐 Relevance 

In response to Paxton’s accusations and subsequent investigation, Meta has stated that it has a disclaimer to warn people that its chatbot “responses are generated by AI — not people…to help people better understand their limitations.” Character AI also adds a similar disclaimer to every chat to remind users that a “character” isn’t a real person, and says that “everything they say should be treated as fiction.” Both also say that their AI services are not designed for children under 13 (although it’s been proven that children under 13 have managed to use Meta’s AI chatbot, and Character AI’s “kid-friendly” characters are clearly designed to attract younger users). This probe comes just days after Senator Josh Hawley launched his own investigation into Meta, after reports came out that its AI chatbots were flirting with minors.
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