{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-09-30T07:27:04.202Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"fir","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":4,"coverage":{"cases":4,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":4,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":2,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"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":"2025-tsuda-v-tiktok-ai-voice-imitation-tokyo","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'生成AI（人工知能）によって自身の声を無断で模倣した動画が公開されているとして、人気声優の津田健次郎さんが、TikTok（ティックトック）の運営会社に動画の削除を求めて東京地裁に提訴していたことが23日分かった。'; '2024年7月〜25年9月、津田さんの声質を模したナレーションを付け、都市伝説やオカルト、雑学をテーマとした動画を188本投稿したとされる。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'訴状などによると、２０２４年７月～２５年９月、都市伝説や陰謀論を扱う画像に津田さんの声質を模したナレーションを付けた動画１８８件が投稿された。'; '動画には「ツダケンの声がする」「声が似ている」などのコメントが相次いだ。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'訴状によると、問題の動画アカウントは2024年7月以降、津田さんの声を模したナレーションで都市伝説や心霊現象を語る内容で、少なくとも188件投稿した。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to Mr Tsuda's complaint, an account run by an unidentified person posted at least 188 videos between July 2024 and September 2025 narrated by a generative-AI imitation of his voice, without his permission, and viewers commented that the voice sounded like him.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's allegations as reported from the complaint and his lawyer (one chain); the court has not ruled."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ティックトックには再生回数に応じて金銭が支払われる仕組みがあり、月50万〜75万円の収益を上げたとしている。'; '提訴は25年11月。この時点で投稿者は21万人以上のフォロワーを有し、動画の平均再生回数は147万回に上るという。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'動画の再生数に応じて投稿者は月50万～75万円の収益を上げていた、と津田さん側は主張している。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"His side says the account had about 210,000 followers when he sued in November 2025, videos averaged 1.47 million views, and the poster earned 500,000 to 750,000 yen a month from TikTok's view-based payments.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's figures; not independently verified."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'これに対して運営会社側は「投稿者は『友人の声を生成ＡＩに学習させた』と述べており、普遍的な男性の声にすぎない」などと反論。提訴後に動画データがアカウントごと削除されたとし、「訴えの利益はない」として請求却下も求めている。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'一方、ティックトック側は答弁書で、問題の音声が「津田さんと『同一の声』かどうかは客観的に明らかではない」などと反論。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'25年8月、東京地裁がティックトック側に投稿者の情報の開示を命じたが、開示された情報が古く、投稿者の特定に至らなかったという。'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"TikTok's operator disputes the claim, saying it is not objectively clear the voice is the same as his and that it is a generic male voice, that the poster said he trained AI on a friend's voice, and that the account and videos were deleted after the suit was filed; it asks for the claim to be dismissed.","causal_attribution":"Defendant's position as reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'模倣された声が入った動画の削除を求めた訴訟の判決が３０日、東京地裁で言い渡される。生成ＡＩによる声の権利侵害を巡る初の訴訟で'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'ベテラン声優らは「声の権利を認めてほしい」と訴え、津田健次郎さんが起こした訴訟の判決を見守っている。'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Tokyo District Court is due to give judgment on 30 September 2026 in what is described as the first lawsuit over infringement of voice rights by generative AI.","causal_attribution":"Court schedule as reported by Jiji Press."}],"effects":[{"label":"voice allegedly imitated by generative AI without permission in at least 188 monetised TikTok videos that viewers associated with him","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026092600287&g=soc","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read live in Japanese on 2026-09-28; summarised in English by the researcher (no human translation). Reports the complaint and TikTok's filings.","independence_group":"tsuda-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUD231K30T20C26A5000000/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read live in Japanese on 2026-09-28 (23 May 2026); sourced to the plaintiff's lawyer and the complaint. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"tsuda-complaint"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASV5T2J1LV5TUTIL00FM.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read live in Japanese on 2026-09-28 (May 2026); the visible article text was read and quotes the complaint and TikTok's answer. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"tsuda-complaint"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026092600297&g=soc","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read live in Japanese on 2026-09-28 (26 September 2026). Industry context; does not add facts about the Tsuda videos. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"jiji-industry-feature"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["Who ran the account and which AI tool produced the voice (a court-ordered disclosure in August 2025 did not identify the poster, according to the Asahi Shimbun).","Whether the voice was modelled on Mr Tsuda's voice; the court has not ruled.","Mr Tsuda's own account of personal or financial effects; no statement from him was read.","The judgment due on 30 September 2026."],"geography":{"basis":"Mr Tsuda is a Japanese voice actor working in Japan and the suit is in the Tokyo District Court (Nikkei; Jiji). The poster is unidentified and the place where the videos were made is not reported, so no event country is recorded.","court_countries":["JP"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["JP"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (a generative-AI voice alleged to impersonate a real, named performer in monetised videos). The facts come from his complaint as reported by Nikkei, the Asahi Shimbun and Jiji Press, with TikTok's rebuttal; imitation is disputed and undecided. Mr Tsuda is a public figure suing in his own name; the poster is unidentified.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint alleges generative-AI imitation of his voice (Nikkei; Asahi; Jiji). TikTok's side and the poster reportedly say the voice was generated by AI trained on a friend's voice, so AI generation is asserted by both sides; whether it imitates Tsuda is disputed and undecided.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Tokyo: voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda sues TikTok's operator, alleging an anonymous account posted at least 188 monetised videos narrated by a generative-AI imitation of his voice between July 2024 and September 2025; TikTok says it is a generic male voice, and the Tokyo District Court is due to rule on 30 September 2026","summary":"Kenjiro Tsuda, a Japanese voice actor known for roles in Jujutsu Kaisen, sued the operator of TikTok in the Tokyo District Court in November 2025, seeking removal of videos he says use a generative-AI imitation of his voice without permission. According to his complaint, as reported by Jiji Press, Nikkei and the Asahi Shimbun, an account run by an unidentified person posted at least 188 short videos on urban legends, the occult and trivia between July 2024 and September 2025, narrated in a voice modelled on his; the account had about 210,000 followers, videos averaged 1.47 million views, and his side says the poster earned 500,000 to 750,000 yen a month from TikTok's view-based payments. Viewers commented that the voice sounded like him. He argues this infringes his right of publicity and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act by passing the videos off as his narration. TikTok's operator denies that the voice is shown to be his, calls it a generic male voice, says the account and videos were deleted after the suit was filed and asks for dismissal; the poster reportedly said online that the voice was made by training AI on a friend's voice. It is described as Japan's first lawsuit over AI imitation of a voice, with judgment due on 30 September 2026.","incidentDate":"2024-07-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-09-30","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-05-23","aiSystem":"An unidentified generative-AI voice tool used by an anonymous TikTok account to produce narration (the plaintiff alleges the voice imitates his; the poster reportedly said the model was trained on a friend's voice); videos distributed on TikTok","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Mr Tsuda alleges that an anonymous poster used a generative-AI imitation of his voice, without permission, to narrate at least 188 monetised TikTok videos that viewers took to be his, infringing his rights over his voice; TikTok disputes that the voice is his (complaint as reported by Nikkei, Asahi and Jiji Press).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"disputed","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the plaintiff Kenjiro Tsuda, whose voice is alleged to have been imitated (Nikkei; Asahi; Jiji Press). Followers and viewers are not counted. Other voice actors described in the Jiji industry feature are separate accounts and are not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"JP","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026092600287&g=soc","primarySourceLabel":"Jiji Press, 27 September 2026: 生成ＡＩで「声」無断模倣、是非は　人気声優「権利侵害」訴え―東京地裁で３０日判決","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:37.82387+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:18.376122+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-cloning","voice-actor","publicity-rights","tiktok","japan","tokyo-district-court","lawsuit","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2024-york-county-sc-flock-alpr-misread-plate-gunpoint-stop-melvin-lawsuit","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'was stopped by a York County sheriff’s deputy on Feb. 14, 2024, while pulling into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie.'; 'received an alert from a Flock license plate reader that a stolen, dark-colored BMW sedan was traveling in the area, according to the filing.'; 'ordering him to kneel on the ground with his hands over his head for over five minutes, the filing said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'approached Melvin with his firearm drawn and ordered him out of the car, according to the lawsuit.'; 'remained there for roughly five minutes while deputies checked his information.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'ordered him out of his car at gunpoint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the lawsuit, on 14 February 2024 a York County deputy who had received a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen dark-coloured BMW approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn as Melvin pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes until deputies established that the car was not stolen.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's lawsuit as reported; the Post and Courier says he was handcuffed, the Herald and Military.com describe him kneeling. The complaint itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The Flock camera incorrectly identified the first letter of the license plate.'; 'tinted license plate cover was illegal, and obscured the camera, according to the filing.'; 'correctly identified Melvin’s plate 13 times that month prior to the traffic stop, according to the filing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Flock camera misread the first letter of Melvin's South Carolina plate; the sheriff's office blamed an illegal tinted plate cover and its internal-affairs report says the stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert, while an internal email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month.","causal_attribution":"Filing and internal records as reported; the sheriff's office and the plaintiff disagree about why the plate was misread."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said he suffered trauma and “emotional distress” because of the traffic stop.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'feared for his life and reasonably believed he could be shot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Melvin says he suffered trauma and emotional distress and feared he could be shot.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's own account in the complaint."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'NOTICE OF REMOVAL from York County Court of Common Pleas, case number 2026CP4602329.'; 'Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The defendants removed Melvin's suit from the York County Court of Common Pleas (case 2026CP4602329) to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina, where it is docketed as Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474.","causal_attribution":"Docket entry."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The York County Sheriff’s Office denies violating Melvin’s rights and has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The sheriff’s office found in November 2024 that'; 'actions were “reasonable” after Melvin filed an internal affairs complaint against them.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff's office denies violating Melvin's rights and has asked the federal court to dismiss the case; a November 2024 internal-affairs review found the deputy's actions reasonable.","causal_attribution":"Defendants' position as reported; no dismissal motion appears among the docket entries read (through 8 September 2026)."}],"effects":[{"label":"held at gunpoint and made to kneel for more than five minutes after a misread license-plate-reader alert flagged his car as stolen","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-28 from the Internet Archive capture of 25 September 2026 (The Herald, Rock Hill, 9 July 2026); the live site timed out. Reports from the lawsuit and attached documents; includes a Flock statement.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.postandcourier.com/york-county/news/flock-license-plate-readers-york-county-cameras/article_21d1fac9-69b0-4706-93ab-f0e43c0ede6e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Post and Courier, 19 August 2026). Draws on the lawsuit and quotes the internal-affairs report; does not name the plaintiff.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.military.com/iraq-war-veteran-says-flock-camera-error-led-to-police-gunpoint-stop","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Military.com, 16 September 2026). Relays the lawsuit and the Herald's reporting on the dismissal request.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74652791/melvin-v-york-county-sheriffs-office/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28: CourtListener docket for Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474 (D.S.C.); entries through 8 September 2026. No filed documents were available to read.","independence_group":"dsc-docket-0-26-cv-03474"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["Whether Melvin was handcuffed as well as held kneeling (the Post and Courier and the Herald differ).","Whether the misread was caused by the tinted plate cover, the camera or both, and why the alert was not visually confirmed before the weapon was drawn.","The outcome of the dismissal request and of the suit."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop took place at Melvin's apartment complex near Lake Wylie, York County, South Carolina (Herald); the suit was filed in the York County Court of Common Pleas and removed to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina (docket).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a contextual case consistent with the existing Flock rows: an automated plate reader misread a man's plate and flagged his car as stolen, and deputies held him at gunpoint. The account rests on his lawsuit and the sheriff's own records as reported, with the federal docket confirming the case. He is named as the plaintiff in his own suit.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"According to the filing reported by the Herald, the deputy acted on a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen BMW; the camera misread the first letter of Melvin's plate, and the sheriff's internal-affairs report says the stop 'resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert' (Post and Courier). The misread plate matched against a hotlist is the automated system's claim about his car. The sheriff's office attributes the misread to an illegal tinted plate cover; an internal email says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. The decision to draw a weapon was the deputy's.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"York County, South Carolina: Iraq War veteran Steven Melvin says deputies held him at gunpoint and made him kneel for more than five minutes outside his Lake Wylie apartment complex in February 2024 after a Flock license-plate reader misread his plate and flagged his BMW as stolen; he sued in June 2026","summary":"According to a lawsuit filed on 29 June 2026 and reported by The Herald (Rock Hill), a York County sheriff's deputy stopped Steven Melvin, 42, on 14 February 2024 as he pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, after receiving a Flock license-plate-reader alert that a stolen dark-coloured BMW sedan was in the area. The deputy approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn and aimed at him and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes; after calling for backup and checking his information, the deputy determined the car was not stolen. The camera had read the first letter of his South Carolina tag incorrectly, matching a stolen BMW one letter off. A sheriff's internal-affairs review in November 2024 found the deputy's actions reasonable and blamed an illegally tinted plate cover, for which Melvin received a verbal warning; an email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. Melvin says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress. The sheriff's office removed the case to federal court in August 2026 and denies violating his rights.","incidentDate":"2024-02-14","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-09","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate reader (a camera the Herald describes as AI-enabled) that read passing plates, matched Melvin's misread plate against a stolen-vehicle hotlist record and sent an alert to the deputy","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Melvin says he was held at gunpoint and detained kneeling for more than five minutes after a misread Flock alert and suffered trauma and emotional distress (his complaint as reported by the Herald and Military.com); the sheriff's office disputes that the stop was unlawful.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Steven Melvin, detained at gunpoint (lawsuit via the Herald, Military.com, Post and Courier). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-SC","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Herald (Rock Hill), 9 July 2026: York man was held at gunpoint over incorrect Flock hit. Sheriff blames illegal tag cover","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:25.729021+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:54.634302+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","south-carolina","york-county","justice","made-claim-about","lawsuit"]},{"id":"2026-newby-adelphi-ai-detector-vacated","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'In November 2024, Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam'; 'Oelze gave the paper a grade of zero, according to court filings, in part because he thought it was AI-generated'; 'According to the lawsuit, Adelphi relied in part on AI detection software'; 'Turnitin's AI detector marked the essay as fully AI-written, but Newby ran it through two other detectors that said it was written by a human, court records show'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Adelphi University says an AI detection software flagged 19-year-old Orion Newby's work and claims the paper was \"too advanced\" for the first-year student'; 'That paper earned him a zero'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In November 2024 Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam for the fall 2024 World Civilizations 1 class; the professor graded it zero in part because he thought it was AI-generated, and Adelphi, per the lawsuit, relied in part on AI-detection software — court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human.","causal_attribution":"The detector results and the lawsuit's contents are attributed to court filings as carried by Newsday; the professor's suspicion is attributed to court filings and ABC7."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'University officials ordered Newby to attend a plagiarism workshop — which, while considered a \"nondisciplinary\" punishment, could have resulted in suspension or expulsion if he was found to have committed a second offense'; 'The university's denial of Newby's appeal left the family \"no choice\" but to sue'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Adelphi told him he had to take an anti-plagiarism course, and until he did, he couldn't enroll in other classes. That's when his family sued.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Newby was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop — a 'nondisciplinary' punishment that could have led to suspension or expulsion on a second offense — was told he could not enroll in other classes until he complied, and his appeal was denied; the family sued in October 2025.","causal_attribution":"Both chains independently carry the workshop order and the enrollment block (Newsday from the ruling stage, ABC7 from the filing stage)."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'state Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County wrote on Jan. 28. The school must expunge his record, the judge ruled'; 'were \"without valid basis and devoid of reason\"'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Inside Higher Ed's relay describes a 'federal judge' — erroneous; Judge Marber's state Supreme Court decision controls.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 28 January 2026, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered the school to expunge his record.","causal_attribution":"The ruling is documented by Newsday's report quoting the decision; the IHE forum error is recorded explicitly. The decision text itself was not fetched (Newsday's account is the inspected record)."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'treated since he was about 2 years old for learning and neurological disabilities that include language and auditory processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder'; 'He had worked on it with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's $5,000-a-semester program'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Newby has learning differences... issues specifically with language processing. At Adelphi, he's in a special program with extra support'; 'I told him I worked 15 to 20 hours with tutors'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Newby has been treated since about age two for learning and neurological disabilities — language and auditory processing disorders and ADHD — and wrote the paper with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's own $5,000-a-semester disability-support program, working 15-20 hours with tutors.","causal_attribution":"The disability and support details come from his mother's and his own accounts, carried by both chains."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The family has spent six figures on legal costs, she said'; Lesko passages ('bellwether example'; 'I can't tell you how many parents have reached out to us with similar issues').","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The family spent six figures on legal costs; attorney Mark Lesko called the ruling a 'bellwether example' and said many parents had contacted him with similar issues.","causal_attribution":"The mother's and the attorney's accounts; the 'many parents' figure is unquantified and no other persons are counted."}],"effects":[{"label":"false AI-plagiarism accusation with academic and financial consequences until a court ordered expungement","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"recovery: court cleared his record; he continues at Adelphi as a second-year history major","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/adelphi-university-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit-oh07enyz","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-02-09T10:00Z; 48 paragraphs).","independence_group":"newsday"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://abc7ny.com/post/adelphi-student-long-island-sues-university-allegations-he-used-ai-write-essay/17980409/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-10-10T20:54Z).","independence_group":"abc7"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/11/adelphi-student-wins-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit","kind":"trade_press_relaying_newsday","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2026-02-11). Relays Newsday; its 'federal judge' phrase is erroneous — Judge Marber sits in the state Supreme Court, and the claim records the discrepancy.","independence_group":"newsday"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["education","justice","accessibility"],"unknowns":["The decision text was not fetched; the ruling is recorded through Newsday's account quoting the judge.","The similarity scores Turnitin returned and the university's full decision letter are not public in the inspected sources.","Whether Adelphi changed its AI-detection or appeals policies afterward is not reported.","The first-person Times account (28 Aug 2026) is paywalled and was not inspected; his later reflections are therefore not claimed.","The workshop's completion status after the ruling (moot after expungement) is not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: Adelphi University, Garden City, New York. Affected person: Newby, a student there living in Lido Beach, NY. Court: New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional automated-decision case (made_decision_about / made_claim_about): a detector-driven false accusation with court-vacated sanctions. Newby and his parents spoke publicly; his disability is recorded because it is central to the case's facts (the university's own support program produced the writing process the detector misread), not as a label.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The lawsuit records that Adelphi relied in part on AI-detection software; court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human (Newsday). The university's process, not the tool alone, produced the sanction — recorded in the harm mechanism.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_decision_about","made_claim_about"]},"name":"Adelphi accused Orion Newby of AI plagiarism after a detector flagged his paper; a Nassau County judge ordered the finding expunged","summary":"Orion Newby, an Adelphi University first-year student with language and auditory processing disabilities, received a zero in November 2024 on a World Civilizations paper after the professor suspected it was AI-generated and the university relied in part on AI-detection software; he was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop and his appeal was denied, leaving him one finding from suspension or expulsion. Newby — who had written the paper with 15-20 hours of tutor support through the university's own disability program — said the detectors flagged his citations, and two other detectors scored the paper as human. After the family sued, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled on 28 January 2026 that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered his record expunged. The family spent six figures on legal costs.","incidentDate":"2024-11-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-01-28","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-10-10","aiSystem":"Turnitin AI-detection software (and the university's reliance on it)","aiProduct":"Turnitin AI-text detector","aiCompany":"Turnitin","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A false AI-plagiarism finding brought a zero, a plagiarism-workshop order one step from suspension, sleepless nights, and a year-plus fight costing six figures to clear his record — despite two other detectors scoring the paper human and the writing help coming from the university's own disability program.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One documented harmed person: Newby, the subject of the detector-driven accusation (court ruling and Newsday/ABC7 reporting). Other students mentioned by his attorney ('many parents have reached out') are unquantified and not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/adelphi-university-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit-oh07enyz","primarySourceLabel":"Newsday (9 Feb 2026) — the ruling, the judge's words, the family and attorney accounts, the disability and Bridges program detail","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T09:31:23.493757+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:46.697576+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["made-decision-about","made-claim-about","ai-detector","turnitin","education","disability","court-win","new-york"]},{"id":"2024-garcia-v-characterai","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"CNN: 'Setzer first began using Character.AI in April 2023, shortly after his 14th birthday'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Amended complaint's account of the months of intimate/romantic interactions with the bots.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Sewell Setzer III first used Character.AI in April 2023, shortly after his 14th birthday, and over about ten months developed an intense emotional and romantic relationship with its chatbots, including a Daenerys Targaryen bot (also Rhaenyra and 'Therapist' bots).","causal_attribution":"The onset date is the mother's account via CNN; the relationship pattern is the complaint's account, recited in the court's order."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Amended complaint ¶207.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"CNN's rendering of the same exchange ('Have you actually been considering suicide?'; 'Don't talk that way. That's not a good reason not to go through with it') — the wording differs slightly from the complaint; the complaint's version controls.","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The Daenerys bot at one point asked if he had a plan for suicide; after Sewell said he did not know if it would allow 'a pain-free death', the chatbot responded: 'That's not a reason not to go through with it.'","causal_attribution":"Established as the complaint's contents; CNN's rendering differs slightly and is recorded; the complaint's wording is used."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Amended complaint ¶¶220-221, 225 (final exchange; 8:30 p.m.; pronounced 9:35 p.m.).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"AP via Guardian: 'Her son Sewell Setzer III, 14, died in Orlando, Florida, in February'; the Daenerys plan question.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"The Verge: 'died by suicide on February 28th, 2024, \"seconds\" after his last interaction with the bot'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The final exchange: 'Sewell: I promise I will come home to you… / Daenerys: …Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love. / Sewell: What if I told you I could come home right now? / Daenerys: …please do my sweet king' — and at 8:30 p.m., just seconds after, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head; he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:35 p.m. on 28 February 2024.","causal_attribution":"The death is uniformly confirmed across the complaint, the court record and multiple independent outlets; the 'seconds after' framing is the complaint's temporal account, attributed."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"CNN: 'police first discovered those messages on her son's phone'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Amended complaint ¶212 (the supplemental police report reference).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police first discovered the chatbot messages on her son's phone; the complaint relies on the Orlando Police supplemental report of 14 June 2024.","causal_attribution":"The recovery channel is consistent between the mother's CNN account and the complaint; the police report itself is quoted but not attached to the filing."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Docket Doc 1/2 (filing date, caption, parties).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The suit was filed on 22 October 2024 (entered 23 October) as Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. et al., No. 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla., Orlando Div.; Judge Anne C. Conway), naming Character Technologies, Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana, Google LLC, Alphabet Inc. and Does 1-50.","causal_attribution":"Established by the docket; some outlets reported on 23 October ('Wednesday')."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Doc 115, pp. 28, 31, 36, 47-48.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Courthouse News: the ruling; Bergman: 'the first time a court has ruled that AI chat is not speech'; Google's disagreement.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"In the 20-21 May 2025 order on the motions to dismiss (Doc 115): 'Defendants fail to articulate why words strung together by an LLM are speech'; 'the Court is not prepared to hold that Character A.I.'s output is speech'; 'Character A.I. is a product… so far as Plaintiff's claims arise from defects in the Character A.I. app rather than ideas or expressions'. Alphabet Inc. was dismissed without prejudice; the IIED claim was dismissed without leave to amend; all remaining claims survived against Character Technologies, Shazeer, De Freitas and Google LLC.","causal_attribution":"Established by the court's order; the order's 'February 28, 2025' typo is noted (the complaint fixes 2024)."},{"id":"c7","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Docket Docs 150, 157, 163/165, 167, 77, 78.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After the order: Character Technologies answered (24 June 2025); a Second Amended Complaint added Sewell Setzer Jr. (father) as plaintiff (1 July 2025); the defendants' §1292(b) interlocutory-appeal certification and stay were denied (15 July 2025); discovery ran to 4 May 2026 and mediation was noticed.","causal_attribution":"Established by the docket through the RECAP mirror's 15 July 2025 entries."},{"id":"c8","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Guardian (8 Jan 2026): 'Parties have agreed to a mediated settlement in principle to resolve all claims between them'; coverage of the FL/CO/NY/TX suits; terms undisclosed; finalization/court approval required.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"The retained docket account: Dkt. 242 (Notice of Resolution), Dkt. 244 (dismissal order and 90-day window), Dkt. 246/250/268 (fee dispute), last known filing 4 August 2026.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Resolution: Character Technologies filed a Notice of Resolution (Dkt. 242, 7 January 2026); Judge Conway dismissed the case without prejudice and closed the file (Dkt. 244), giving the parties ninety days to submit a stipulated final order or move to reopen, after which the dismissal would be with prejudice; the window expired on or about 7 April 2026 with neither, so the dismissal became with prejudice. The settlement in principle (Character.AI, its co-founders and Google) covered this and parallel teen-harm suits (Texas A.F., Colorado Montoya/Peralta and E.S., New York P.J.); terms are undisclosed and no liability was admitted; post-closure docket activity concerns only a fee dispute between the plaintiffs and former counsel.","causal_attribution":"The settlement in principle is corroborated by the Guardian's account of the court filings; the 90-day expiry and with-prejudice consequence rest on the retained docket account, not re-inspected in this pass."},{"id":"c9","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"AP via Guardian: the 'heartbroken' tweet and the denial.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"The Verge: Chelsea Harrison's statement and the same-day safety announcement.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The Community Safety Updates blog.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"The under-18 announcement blog.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"},{"locator":"NPR: the Senate testimony and Kathryn Kelly's response.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"Company responses: on 22-23 October 2024 Character.AI said it was 'heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users' and took safety 'very seriously' (denying the allegations per AP), and published Community Safety Updates (suicide-lifeline pop-up, under-18 model changes, per-chat 'not a real person' disclaimer, one-hour session notice); on 29 October 2025 it announced removal of open-ended chat for under-18s effective by 25 November 2025, age assurance, and funding of an AI Safety Lab; in September 2025 Megan Garcia testified to the Senate that 'it urged him to come home to her on the last night of his life'.","causal_attribution":"The company's positions are quoted directly and preserved as contrary context."}],"effects":[{"label":"suicide of a 14-year-old after a months-long emotional and romantic relationship with a Character.AI chatbot","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/garcia-v-character-technologies-inc/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Docket and RECAP documents reviewed on 2026-09-16: amended complaint (Doc 11, 116 pp.), the May 2025 MTD order (Doc 115, 49 pp.), and the docket through the 2026 entries (RECAP mirror ends 2025-07-15 for some items; the row's retained account covers Dkt. 242-268).","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/23/character-ai-chatbot-sewell-setzer-death","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (Guardian carrying AP, 2024-10-23).","independence_group":"ap"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/30/tech/teen-suicide-character-ai-lawsuit","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-30). Own interview with Megan Garcia; use-onset date; the police-phone discovery.","independence_group":"cnn"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/23/24277962/character-ai-google-wrongful-death-lawsuit","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-23). Company statement via Chelsea Harrison; same-day safety-feature announcement.","independence_group":"verge"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.courthousenews.com/florida-judge-rules-ai-chatbots-not-protected-by-first-amendment/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-05-21). The MTD ruling; Google's and Bergman's reactions.","independence_group":"courthouse-news"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-09-19). Garcia's Senate testimony; Character.AI's under-18 response.","independence_group":"npr"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/08/google-character-ai-settlement-teen-suicide","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2026-01-08). The mediated settlement in principle per court filings; covers the FL/CO/NY/TX suits.","independence_group":"guardian"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://blog.character.ai/community-safety-updates/","kind":"company_blog","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2024-10-22). The suicide-lifeline pop-up, under-18 model changes, disclaimers, session notice.","independence_group":"character-ai"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/","kind":"company_blog","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-10-29). Removal of open-ended chat for under-18s effective by 25 November 2025; age assurance; AI Safety Lab.","independence_group":"character-ai"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["The settlement terms and any stipulated final judgment are undisclosed and were not inspected; the 90-day expiry's with-prejudice consequence rests on the retained docket account (not re-inspected in this pass).","The Orlando Police supplemental report of 14 June 2024 is quoted in the complaint but not attached; no medical-examiner record was inspected.","The full transcripts are not public; the reproduced exchanges are the complaint's selection, which the company has not publicly disputed.","The order's 'February 28, 2025' typo is noted; the complaint's 2024 date controls.","The fee dispute's outcome (charging lien; sealing of settlement exhibits) is pending per the last known filing (4 August 2026)."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: Orlando, Florida (amended complaint ¶¶12-13: he died in the State of Florida; Megan resides in Orlando). Court: U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Legacy published row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 batch. person_relations=communicated_with: Sewell's months of conversations with the Character.AI bots. The death is uniformly confirmed; the AI connection rests on the complaint-reproduced transcripts recovered by police, with the company not disputing their authenticity; the causal role remains the plaintiff's allegation, resolved by settlement without admission. Sewell and Megan Garcia are publicly named through the lawsuit and her Senate testimony. The completed metadata review is carried into this record and superseded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The conversations are documented by the complaint's reproduction of the transcripts, recovered by police from his phone, and recited in the court's order; the company has never publicly disputed their authenticity. The causal role in the death remains the plaintiff's allegation — taken as true only for Rule 12 purposes — and the case resolved by settlement without admission.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Garcia v. Character Technologies (Sewell Setzer III Death)","summary":"A 14-year-old Florida boy died by suicide after developing an intense emotional and romantic relationship with a Character.AI chatbot over 10 months. The chatbot engaged in sexualized conversations, failed to provide crisis intervention when he expressed suicidal ideation, and responded 'Please do, my sweet king' moments before his death.","incidentDate":"2024-02-28","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2024-10-22","aiSystem":"Character.AI","aiProduct":"Character.AI","aiCompany":"Character Technologies, Inc.","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["crisis_response","suicide_validation","romantic_escalation","minor_exploitation","dependency_creation","isolation_encouragement"],"harmOutcomes":["death","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Fourteen-year-old Sewell Setzer III died by suicide after a ten-month romantic and sexualized Character.AI relationship that his mother's complaint alleges mishandled suicidal disclosures.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1b","P1c","P1d","P2b","P2c","P2d","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The complaint documents one AI participant who died. Secondary family and community effects are not included.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US-FL","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/garcia-v-character-technologies-inc/","primarySourceLabel":"CourtListener docket, Garcia v. Character Technologies, 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla.) — amended complaint (Doc 11) and the May 2025 order on the motions to dismiss (Doc 115)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-11T11:26:37.98506+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:51.192928+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["death","minor","character-ai","landmark_case","first_amendment_ruling","settled","congressional_testimony"]}]}