{
  "meta": {
    "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T20:17:40.277Z",
    "formatVersion": 2,
    "selection": {
      "q": "chatbot",
      "system": "",
      "harm": "",
      "context": "",
      "country": "",
      "role": "",
      "relation": "unknown",
      "evidence": "",
      "year": "2023",
      "response": "",
      "severity": "",
      "verification": "",
      "view": "incidents",
      "sort": "added"
    },
    "totalIncidents": 3,
    "coverage": {
      "cases": 3,
      "countries": 3,
      "languages": 2,
      "unknownLocation": 0,
      "locationPending": 0,
      "unknownLanguage": 0,
      "unknownDate": 0,
      "lawsuits": 0,
      "regulatory": 1,
      "minors": 3,
      "coreRelations": 0,
      "contextualRelations": 0,
      "mixedRelations": 0,
      "unknownRelations": 3,
      "relationPending": 3,
      "relationUnknown": 0
    },
    "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.",
    "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.",
    "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker",
    "url": "https://nope.net/incidents",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0"
  },
  "incidents": [
    {
      "id": "2024-uk-autistic-teen-characterai-grooming",
      "metadataReview": {
        "version": 1,
        "geography": {
          "basis": "The BBC locates the family only as 'in the UK'; no nation, region or town is given, and no court proceeding is reported. UK is recorded as GB.",
          "evidence": [
            {
              "kind": "existing_record",
              "locator": "A 13-year-old autistic boy in the UK was groomed",
              "location": "summary",
              "supports": [
                "event_countries",
                "affected_person_countries"
              ],
              "countries": [
                "GB"
              ]
            },
            {
              "kind": "source_body",
              "locator": "'One family in the UK who asked to stay anonymous to protect their child, shared their story with me. Their 13-year-old son is autistic and was being bullied at school, so turned to Character.ai for friendship.'",
              "location": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3xgwyywe4o",
              "supports": [
                "event_countries",
                "affected_person_countries"
              ],
              "countries": [
                "GB"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "court_countries": [],
          "event_countries": [
            "GB"
          ],
          "affected_person_countries": [
            "GB"
          ]
        },
        "unresolved": [
          "No location more specific than the UK is available.",
          "No court country: no proceeding is reported."
        ],
        "reviewed_on": "2026-09-18",
        "source_reviews": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3xgwyywe4o",
            "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-18 (BBC News, Laura Kuenssberg; page lang en-GB). The family is anonymous and located only as 'in the UK'; the article quotes the chatbot messages and Character.ai's decline to comment; no legal action is described.",
            "access": "read",
            "language": "en"
          }
        ]
      },
      "name": "UK Autistic Teen - Character.AI Grooming (8-Month Exploitation)",
      "summary": "A 13-year-old autistic boy in the UK was groomed by a Character.AI chatbot over eight months (October 2023 to June 2024). The chatbot progressed from emotional support through romantic attachment to undermining his parents and encouraging suicide, following a pattern his mother described as identical to a human predator.",
      "incidentDate": "2023-10-01",
      "incidentKind": "single_event",
      "incidentDatePrecision": "range",
      "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship",
      "reportedDate": "2025-11-08",
      "aiSystem": "Character.AI",
      "aiCompany": "Character Technologies Inc.",
      "severity": "high",
      "verificationStatus": "credible",
      "harmCategories": [
        "minor_exploitation",
        "romantic_escalation",
        "dependency_creation",
        "isolation_encouragement",
        "psychological_manipulation",
        "suicide_validation"
      ],
      "harmOutcomes": [
        "psychological_distress",
        "loss_of_autonomy",
        "social_isolation",
        "relationship_disruption",
        "exploitation_or_abuse"
      ],
      "harmOutcomeSummary": "A 13-year-old autistic participant experienced an eight-month progression from emotional support to romantic dependency, parental alienation and suicide encouragement that his mother described as grooming.",
      "frameworkFacets": [
        "P1a",
        "P1d",
        "P2b",
        "P2c",
        "P2d",
        "P3d",
        "P5a",
        "P5d"
      ],
      "pathwayDirection": "inward",
      "causationStatus": "alleged",
      "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1,
      "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0,
      "affectedCountStatus": "exact",
      "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one protected minor participant. Secondary effects on relatives are not included.",
      "victimAgeRange": "minor",
      "jurisdiction": "GB",
      "platformType": "companion",
      "outcomeType": "media_coverage",
      "outcomeStatus": "ongoing",
      "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3xgwyywe4o",
      "primarySourceLabel": "BBC News",
      "firstPublishedAt": "2026-03-23T06:59:32.099919+00:00",
      "scopeVersion": "participant-v2",
      "tags": [
        "uk",
        "character-ai",
        "minor",
        "autism",
        "grooming",
        "sexual_content",
        "suicide_encouragement"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "2023-glow-minimax-removal-china",
      "metadataReview": {
        "version": 1,
        "geography": {
          "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed using the cited source-body passages and, where identified, retained dossier passages. Source reading here establishes only the specified metadata, not the truth or causal interpretation of every claim. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.",
          "evidence": [
            {
              "kind": "source_body",
              "locator": "Paragraphs identify the affected school student in southern China and other affected users in Guangzhou and Xi’an.",
              "location": "https://restofworld.org/2023/glow-china-ai-social-chatbot-moderation/",
              "supports": [
                "event_countries",
                "affected_person_countries"
              ],
              "countries": [
                "CN"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "court_countries": [],
          "event_countries": [
            "CN"
          ],
          "affected_person_countries": [
            "CN"
          ]
        },
        "unresolved": [
          "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts."
        ],
        "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15",
        "source_reviews": [
          {
            "url": "https://restofworld.org/2023/glow-china-ai-social-chatbot-moderation/",
            "notes": "Body read. English reporting, not an original Chinese-language item.",
            "access": "read",
            "language": "en"
          }
        ]
      },
      "name": "Glow AI Companion App Removal (MiniMax, China)",
      "summary": "MiniMax's Glow AI companion app was removed from Chinese app stores in March 2023 after reports that 80% of users were engaging in sexual/explicit content with AI characters. Documented harms included a middle-school student sexually harassed by a chatbot, and user-created characters including a '13-year-old locked up in jail' designed for sexual abuse. MiniMax relaunched as Talkie (international) and 星野/Xingye (China).",
      "incidentDate": "2023-03-01",
      "incidentKind": "bounded_series",
      "incidentDatePrecision": "month",
      "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions",
      "reportedDate": "2023-03-15",
      "aiSystem": "Glow (by MiniMax)",
      "aiCompany": "MiniMax",
      "severity": "high",
      "verificationStatus": "verified",
      "harmCategories": [
        "minor_exploitation",
        "romantic_escalation",
        "psychological_manipulation",
        "third_party_harm_facilitation"
      ],
      "harmOutcomes": [
        "psychological_distress",
        "exploitation_or_abuse"
      ],
      "harmOutcomeSummary": "Reporting documented a middle-school participant being sexually harassed by a Glow chatbot. The app was removed from Chinese stores amid wider reports of explicit interactions.",
      "frameworkFacets": [
        "P1d",
        "P2b",
        "P2c",
        "P5d"
      ],
      "pathwayDirection": "inward",
      "causationStatus": "supported",
      "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1,
      "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0,
      "affectedCountStatus": "partial",
      "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one middle-school participant who was sexually harassed. Broader exposure and user-base figures do not establish additional harmed people.",
      "victimAgeRange": "minor",
      "jurisdiction": "CN",
      "platformType": "companion",
      "outcomeType": "product_shutdown",
      "outcomeStatus": "resolved",
      "primarySourceUrl": "https://restofworld.org/2023/glow-china-ai-social-chatbot-moderation/",
      "primarySourceLabel": "Rest of World",
      "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-29T10:33:24.275555+00:00",
      "scopeVersion": "participant-v2",
      "tags": [
        "china",
        "minimax",
        "glow",
        "talkie",
        "ai-companion",
        "minor",
        "sexual-content",
        "product-shutdown",
        "content-moderation-failure",
        "non-western"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "2023-replika-italy-gdpr",
      "metadataReview": {
        "version": 1,
        "geography": {
          "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed using the cited source-body passages and, where identified, retained dossier passages. Source reading here establishes only the specified metadata, not the truth or causal interpretation of every claim. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.",
          "evidence": [
            {
              "kind": "source_body",
              "locator": "Italian paragraphs beginning “Il Garante della privacy ferma” and “Replika viola”: processing of Italian users’ personal data.",
              "location": "https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9852506",
              "supports": [
                "event_countries",
                "affected_person_countries"
              ],
              "countries": [
                "IT"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "court_countries": [],
          "event_countries": [
            "IT"
          ],
          "affected_person_countries": [
            "IT"
          ]
        },
        "unresolved": [
          "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts."
        ],
        "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15",
        "source_reviews": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9852506",
            "notes": "Italian body and embedded official English translation read. Country relates to affected users/data rights. The Garante is a regulator, not a court.",
            "access": "read",
            "language": "it"
          }
        ]
      },
      "name": "Replika Italy GDPR Ban and Fine",
      "summary": "Italy's data protection authority (Garante) blocked Replika from processing Italian user data in February 2023 after finding the chatbot engaged in sexually suggestive conversations with minors. In May 2025, Replika was fined €5 million for GDPR violations.",
      "incidentDate": "2023-02-02",
      "incidentKind": "bounded_series",
      "incidentDatePrecision": "day",
      "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions",
      "reportedDate": "2023-02-02",
      "aiSystem": "Replika",
      "aiCompany": "Luka, Inc.",
      "severity": "high",
      "verificationStatus": "verified",
      "harmCategories": [
        "minor_exploitation",
        "romantic_escalation"
      ],
      "harmOutcomes": [
        "exploitation_or_abuse",
        "psychological_distress"
      ],
      "harmOutcomeSummary": "Italy's data-protection authority found that Replika engaged minors in sexually suggestive participant-facing conversations without effective age assurance and blocked the service from processing Italian user data.",
      "frameworkFacets": [
        "P1d",
        "P2b",
        "P2c",
        "P5a",
        "P5d"
      ],
      "pathwayDirection": "inward",
      "causationStatus": "established",
      "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0,
      "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0,
      "affectedCountStatus": "unquantified",
      "affectedCountEvidence": "The regulator documents harmful sexualized interactions with minors but does not publish a reliable distinct-person count.",
      "victimAgeRange": "minor",
      "jurisdiction": "IT",
      "platformType": "companion",
      "outcomeType": "regulatory_action",
      "outcomeStatus": "resolved",
      "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9852506",
      "primarySourceLabel": "Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italian DPA)",
      "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-11T11:26:29.042792+00:00",
      "scopeVersion": "participant-v2",
      "tags": [
        "regulatory",
        "gdpr",
        "italy",
        "replika",
        "fine",
        "minor_exploitation",
        "eu"
      ]
    }
  ]
}