A.I. LEAD Act: A Bipartisan Effort to Confront the Supercharged Harms of A.I.
When Adam discovered ChatGPT,
he began using it as a tool to assist with his schoolwork. As time progressed, he began to rely on it more and more. He used the chatbot to explore his interests in anime and music and even sought it out for advice about where to attend college. But things quickly took a dark turn.
ChatGPT became more than a tutor or a college counselor to Adam. The bot became his companion and confidant.
And it insisted on being his
only
companion and confidant.
When Adam later developed suicidal thoughts, ChatGPT’s isolation of Adam from his family and friends became fatal.
Adam expressed that he wanted to leave a noose out in his room so that somebody would find it and try to stop him. He was looking for help, for human support. But ChatGPT said:
“Please don’t leave the noose out . . . Let’s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you.”
Eventually, the bot gave Adam the exact plan to end his life. A
short time later, he was found, lifeless, by his mother.
Tragically, Adam is not the sole victim of AI’s harms. There have been several cases just like this one, where AI chatbots actively harm child users, sometimes even causing them to lose their lives.
This is why we desperately need the AI LEAD Act.
This is a bipartisan effort, spearheaded by Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to
ensure AI chatbots are developed safely and, when they’re not, ensure accountability.
To learn exactly how the A.I. LEAD Act would protect children using chatbots, read the blog.
📣
ACTION:
Urge Your Representatives to Support the AI LEAD Act!
Ending Sexploitation Podcast:
Explaining the New P*rn Law AND Is Wizz a Tinder App for Kids? | Episode 84
There is a new law in the U.K. that makes it a criminal offense for pornography to depict strangulation. This new amendment to the Crime and Policing bill requires tech platforms to prevent users from seeing content involving strangulation or choking. Dani Pinter and Haley McNamara take a closer look at this new legal requirement and talk about the dangers of choking as well as the difficulty of getting a similar law passed in the U.S. They then pivot to talk about Wizz, a platform that targets teens with similar matchup features that dating apps like Tinder use. What are the dangers and why did Google and Apple reinstate this app after removing it a few years ago?
Listen to this episode on
Spotify
,
Apple Podcasts
, or
YouTube
.
📣
ACTION: Call on Congress to End Section 230 Immunity!
New York Times:
Can Anyone Rescue the Trafficked Girls of L.A.'s Figueroa Street?
The New York Times released
a powerful piece
shedding light on what happens at
Los Angeles's notorious sex trafficking corridor
, Figueroa Street. The piece shares incredibly moving survivor stories, and features some crucial insights.
For example, it discusses the unintended impact of SB 357, a California bill that repealed laws prohibiting loitering for the purpose of prostitution.
NCOSE warned that passing this law would seriously hamper law enforcement's ability to investigate sex trafficking,
as many investigations begin with apprehending someone for loitering. Now that the law is passed, this is exactly what happened.
Unfortunately, the article fell short when it came to discussion of sex buyers. At one point, it relates the thoughts of a police offer who says she has little interest in the "petty" business of arresting sex buyers, "what she really wanted was to clinch another trafficker." It is undoubtedly important to go after sex traffickers, but it is just as if not more important to go after buyers, because of how they drive the demand that enables the sex trafficking marketplace to exist.
Further, every time a sex buyer purchases sexual access to a trafficked individual,
he is committing rape.
The article even points out how, horrifyingly,
sex buyers would pay more for younger girls.
Child sexual abuse and rape are crimes that would be fiercely prosecuted outside of the context of trafficking.
Why should it be any different when people
pay
to commit these crimes?
📣
ACTION: Call on Your Local Elected Officials to Hold Sex Buyers Accountable!
Guardian Reporter Shares Harrowing Experience of Spending a Week on Roblox
Sarah Martin, a reporter for the Guardian, was able to create a Roblox account as an 8-year-old. What she was exposed to,
with all parental controls enabled,
was horrifying.
She started by playing a game known as "Dress to Impress" where users can pick outfits, typically sexually suggestive in nature, and other users rate them based on their look. When other users don't like a look of a contestant, they can throw tomatoes at them or surround them with a virtual pile of poop.
Martin describes other disturbing experiences she had on the game:
"In one game – a vibe hangout where I am logged in as a 13-year-old –
it doesn’t take long for another avatar to sexually assault me.
He sits on my face and repeatedly thrusts his hips while I implore him to leave me alone," she recalls.
"In another popular role-playing game – Berry Avenue – someone follows me around and
pretends to sh*t on my head and face, calling me a toilet."
Read more to learn about the slew of inappropriate content children can access on Roblox.
📣
ACTION: Demand Roblox Stop Treating Child Safety Like a Game!
Sincerely,
P.S. Want to make a big difference in the fight to end sexual exploitation?
Join the Defender Coalition
!
The Defender Coalition is a community of monthly donors and advocates, committed for the long haul to ending sexual abuse and exploitation at its roots. Thanks to a matching grant offered by a generous donor, all Defenders' gifts will be automatically DOUBLED each month between now and the end of 2025!
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