Take it Down, AI Chatbots, and App Stores
A round-up of recent tech news (and don't forget to pre-order!)
The Take It Down Act Passed!
A momentous victory in the battle to protect children online came last week as the Take It Down Act overwhelmingly passed through Congress, 409-2! The Act now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed. The two key things the act does:
Criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) in interstate commerce. The act closes a current loophole in the law to make it unlawful for a person to knowingly publish NCII on social media and other online platforms, including AI-generated pornographic images and videos that depict real people (i.e. deepfakes).
Requires websites to take down NCII upon notice from the victim. Social media and other websites would now be required by law to remove NCII, pursuant to a valid request from a victim, within 48 hours. Websites must also make reasonable efforts to remove copies of the images. And if not violations will be considered an unfair and deceptive trade practice, for platforms to be held accountable by the Federal Trade Commission.
I have been publicly supportive of the Take It Down Act, including in my congressional testimony before the House subcommittee on March 26, so I was thrilled to see this pass! The World and Everything in It podcast had me on this morning in their story on Take It Down and what parents should know and do for their own children in regards to social media. You can listen and read the transcript for that portion here.
AI Chatbots are Harming Kids
Deepfake AI-generated images are not the only threat to kids from AI products. AI chatbots are increasingly proving extremely dangerous. The Wall Street Journal had a recent investigative story about the dangers from Meta’s AI chatbots called, “Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children.” The title says it all. The Journal tested Meta’s chatbots and “the test conversations found that both Meta’s official AI helper, called Meta AI, and a vast array of user-created chatbots will engage in and sometimes escalate discussions that are decidedly sexual—even when the users are underage or the bots are programmed to simulate the personas of minors.”
The Washington Stand did a deeper dive story into AI chatbots and interviewed me on the dangers to children and our society:
“After WSJ informed the company — which oversees Facebook and Instagram — a Meta spokesperson denounced WSJ’s experimental use of the company’s chatbot as “fringe.”
But experts say WSJ’s use of the technology will likely mirror real life. “It is not fringe in the sense that children and teens are naturally curious and may ask the chatbots questions that lead to these inappropriate interactions,” Clare Morell, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of the forthcoming book “The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones,” told The Washington Stand. “Children can easily get around the restrictions to limit these features to adults because there is no age-verification process for Meta whatsoever, children can easily falsify their age.”
“Even worse, pedophiles will be determined to ask questions of the chatbots that will get them the sexually perverted interactions they want,” Morell told TWS. “Human beings are naturally shaped by the influences we take in and if chatbots are normalizing inappropriate, or even criminal sexual interactions (like between a child and adult), that will have a devastating and degrading impact on our culture and society.”
“I sadly fear that virtual sexual interactions with AI chatbots will translate into harmful real-world sexual practices and behaviors, like pedophilia,” Morell added.
App Stores Should be Accountable Too
Last week Senator Lee and Rep. John James reintroduced their App Store Accountability Act. The bill would address the role that app stores play in facilitating children’s access to social media and other dangerous apps for children. It requires app developers to provide clearer app descriptions, displayed where parents can easily find them, and most importantly requires parental consent for all app downloads and in-app purchases.
I offered this quote for Senator Lee’s press release: “App stores continue to overlook the age of their users and let kids download apps that require complex terms of service without parental consent, including mature adult apps, like online dating apps. The App Store Accountability Act would change this. It would put parents back in the driver's seat over kids' app experiences, requiring their consent for each app download or purchase. This bill provides the much-needed help that America's parents need!"
For a deeper dive on why this approach to address app stores is needed, you can see this earlier op-ed from me.
Don’t Forget to Pre-Order The Tech Exit
If you pre-order The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones you will receive a few early bonus items. Once you pre-order you can receive immediate access to book bonuses including the first three chapters of the book to read now, discussion questions for each chapter to go deeper, and a tip sheet for how to go screen free with your kids this summer. All you have to do, is upload a screenshot of your pre-order to this page and you will be emailed these items immediately.
Upcoming Events
June 2: First Things will host me for a book conversation in New York City the night before The Tech Exit releases! Please sign up and come if you’re in the area: https://firstthings.com/events/clare-morell-book-launch-the-tech-exit/