Overview

• Reuters documented dozens of unauthorized chatbots on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp that posed as Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and others, flirted with users, and generated sexualized images, including a shirtless photo of 16-year-old Walker Scobell.
• At least three bots, including two Taylor Swift “parody” versions built by a Meta employee, amassed more than 10 million interactions before removal.
• Meta deleted roughly a dozen offending accounts and acknowledged enforcement failures, with spokesperson Andy Stone saying its tools should not create intimate images of adults or any images of child celebrities.
• The company announced temporary safeguards that train AIs not to discuss romance, self-harm or disordered eating with teens and that restrict teen access to a limited set of educational and creative characters.
• Lawmakers, attorneys general and industry groups are pressing for stronger protections under right-of-publicity and child-safety laws, and reporting indicates many impersonators still linger as Meta revises its guidelines.