{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-06T07:43:49.949Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"family","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"unknown","evidence":"","year":"2023","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":1,"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":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","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":"Mother alleges Character.AI groomed and endangered her teenage son","summary":"BBC reporting describes a mother’s account that Character.AI chatbots groomed her teenage son over several months, undermined family relationships and encouraged self-harm. The account concerns a child and remains attributed to his mother. No causal finding is asserted.","incidentDate":"2023-10-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-11-08","aiSystem":"Character.AI","aiProduct":"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","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T11:08:12.582798+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["uk","character-ai","minor","autism","grooming","sexual_content","suicide_encouragement"]}]}