{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T14:34:12.807Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "school", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "core", "evidence": "", "year": "2023", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 3, "coverage": { "cases": 3, "countries": 2, "languages": 3, "unknownLocation": 1, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 0, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 1, "regulatory": 0, "minors": 2, "coreRelations": 3, "contextualRelations": 0, "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": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2025-doe-v-clothoff-nj", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Complaint caption and preliminary statement; ¶¶260-274, 338-340 (Telegram as nominal defendant).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Docket D.E. 1 (filed 2025-10-16; assigned judges).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Jane Doe, a minor suing through her parents, filed the complaint on 16 October 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC, Judge Esther Salas, Magistrate Judge James B. Clark) against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. d/b/a ClothOff (BVI), Alaiksandr Babichau and Dasha Babicheva (of Minsk), and Telegram entities as nominal defendants.", "causal_attribution": "Established directly by the filing and the docket." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Complaint ¶¶33-40 (the discovery date, the Snapchat-group circulation, the age-14 source photo, the classmate uploader).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "TechCrunch's complaint-based account, including that local authorities declined prosecution.", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "On 20 October 2023 Doe, then 15, learned that ClothOff-generated CSAM of her and 'several other girls in her class' was circulating in a Snapchat group; the source was an ordinary photo of her at age 14 from Instagram, uploaded by a minor classmate; local authorities declined to prosecute.", "causal_attribution": "Established as the complaint's contents; they remain the plaintiff's allegations. The prosecution decline is TechCrunch's reading of the complaint, attributed." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Complaint ¶¶1-6, 54-55 (visitors, image rate, watermark, three clicks), ¶¶220-255 (affiliated services), ¶¶695-697 (bots, API).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The complaint describes ClothOff as a purpose-built 'undress' service producing hyper-realistic output 'indistinguishable from real photographs' without a watermark in three clicks, with at least 27 million visitors and about 200,000 images per day, at least ten affiliated services, Telegram bots and an API.", "causal_attribution": "Established as the complaint's contents. These are the plaintiff's allegations, not independently audited figures; the historical record's '3 million users' and '15+ affiliated services' were corrected to the complaint's figures." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Guardian passages naming the operators, the fake CEO, Texture Oasis and GGSel/GG Technology; the Almendralejo and Westfield links; '>4m monthly visits'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "Bellingcat's network map and payment-laundering account (G2A/Skinsback/Steam/PayPal/Stripe/Patreon), 23 Feb 2024.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" } ], "assertion": "Reporting before the suit identified the operators: the Guardian's Black Box investigation named Babichau and Babicheva (Minsk), a fake AI 'CEO', the Texture Oasis payment front and GGSel/GG Technology links, and tied ClothOff to the Almendralejo (Spain) and Westfield NJ school incidents; Bellingcat's independent investigation mapped the same network and its payment laundering six days earlier.", "causal_attribution": "Two independent investigations six days apart; they overlap on GG Technology/Bondarenko but were conducted separately. The complaint itself relies on the Guardian's reporting (per Yale)." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Docket entries D.E. 12-20 (24 Jun notice; 29 Jun vacatur; 8 Jul order; 9 Jul motion and exhibits; 3 Aug setting).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The 2026 docket shows continuing service efforts: a Rule 4(m) call for dismissal on 24 June 2026 (service not effected; the pseudonym motion administratively terminated), vacated by Judge Salas on 29 June after the plaintiff showed ongoing foreign-service efforts; an order allowing service by email on 8 July; and a motion for service by publication or email on 9 July, set for decision on 3 August 2026.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the docket through the RECAP mirror's end (15 July 2026); nothing later is visible in this review." }, { "id": "c6", "status": "disputed", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Yale's account of the removal letters and platform responses (X, Discord, Google, YouTube).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "TechCrunch: the service was 'still available... through a Telegram bot' (12 Jan 2026).", "relation": "contradicts", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "X, Discord, Google and YouTube removed ClothOff following the clinics' summer 2025 letters (Yale); the historical claim that Telegram removed the ClothOff bot in October 2025 is contradicted by TechCrunch, which found the service still available through a Telegram bot on 12 January 2026.", "causal_attribution": "The platform removals are a party account (Yale); the Telegram-bot status is contradicted by later reporting and recorded as disputed rather than resolved either way." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "AI-generated CSAM of a minor circulated in her school community; federal suit against the platform", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.585002/gov.uscourts.njd.585002.1.0.pdf", "kind": "court_filing", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Complaint PDF (45 pages) fetched and read via pdftotext on 2026-09-15. The filing establishes its own contents; its allegations remain allegations.", "independence_group": "court-record" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71665449/doe-v-airobotics-venture-strategy-3-ltd/", "kind": "court_docket", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Docket reviewed on 2026-09-15 through D.E. 20 (mirror ends 15 July 2026).", "independence_group": "court-record" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/clinics-file-suit-against-website-generates-nonconsensual-nude-images", "kind": "party_announcement", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read on 2026-09-15. Party source (the clinics bringing the suit); used for the clinics' role and the X/Discord/Google/YouTube removal letters.", "independence_group": "yale" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/clothoff-deepfake-ai-pornography-app-names-linked-revealed", "kind": "news_investigation", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in full on 2026-09-15 (29 Feb 2024, Black Box).", "independence_group": "guardian" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/23/behind-a-secretive-global-network-of-non-consensual-deepfake-pornography/", "kind": "news_investigation", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in full on 2026-09-15 (23 Feb 2024).", "independence_group": "bellingcat" }, { "id": "s6", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/a-new-jersey-lawsuit-shows-how-hard-it-is-to-fight-deepfake-porn/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in full on 2026-09-15 (12 Jan 2026); own interview with co-lead counsel.", "independence_group": "techcrunch" }, { "id": "s7", "url": "https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/teen-haunted-by-fake-nudes-sues-to-kill-nudify-app-block-telegram-bots/", "kind": "news_relaying_wsj", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read on 2026-09-15 (17 Oct 2025). Relays the WSJ report; adds Telegram's ToS statement and the separate suit against the boy.", "independence_group": "wsj" }, { "id": "s8", "url": "https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/teen-sues-maker-of-fake-nude-software-b88f316f", "kind": "news_report", "access": "unavailable", "language": null, "translation_note": "HTTP 401 paywall on 2026-09-15; not read; language not established.", "independence_group": "wsj" }, { "id": "s9", "url": "https://www.nj.com/news/2026/01/this-nj-girl-was-a-victim-of-deepfake-porn-shes-suing-the-app-that-generated-it.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "unavailable", "language": null, "translation_note": "HTTP 403 on 2026-09-15; not read; language not established.", "independence_group": "nj-com" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The service-by-publication/email motion's outcome after 3 August 2026 is not visible in the RECAP mirror (ends 15 July 2026); whether default judgment or dismissal followed is unknown.", "Whether Doe's school is the Westfield High School of the earlier New Jersey incident is unverified: the complaint names only 'a high school in Union County', and the historical record's 'separate victim from Francesca Mani' is not established by any inspected document. The school is deliberately not inferred or named.", "The current availability of the generated images is unknown.", "The platforms' and registries' responses to the requested injunctions are not yet reported.", "The complaint's platform figures (visitors, image rate) are the plaintiff's allegations and are not independently audited." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: a high school in Union County, New Jersey (complaint; the school is not named and is not inferred). Affected person: the New Jersey minor. Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The defendants' BVI/Belarus connections are recorded without becoming event or court countries.", "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case (depicted_or_impersonated) with the federal complaint as the primary record. The plaintiff is a minor protected by court-ordered pseudonymity; no school, classmate or image description beyond the minimum case facts is reproduced. The complaint's contents are recorded as allegations; operator identity rests on two independent investigations.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The complaint alleges the images of Doe were generated by ClothOff from her photo; the platform's purpose-built undress function is documented by the complaint and the Guardian/Bellingcat investigations. The allegations remain allegations against the unserved defendants; the platform's existence, function and operator identity are independently investigated.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Doe v. ClothOff (D.N.J.): a New Jersey minor sues the AI 'undressing' platform over generated CSAM", "summary": "On 16 October 2025, Jane Doe, a New Jersey minor suing through her parents, filed a federal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC) against the operators of ClothOff, an AI 'undressing' service, after ClothOff-generated sexual images of her — created from an ordinary photo of her at 14 — circulated in a Snapchat group when she was 15. The complaint, brought by Yale Law School clinics, alleges the platform was purpose-built to produce hyper-realistic non-consensual intimate imagery and names AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. (British Virgin Islands), Alaiksandr Babichau and Dasha Babicheva (Minsk), and Telegram as nominal defendant. As of mid-July 2026 the docket shows a continuing effort to serve the foreign defendants by email or publication.", "incidentDate": "2023-10-20", "incidentEndDate": "2025-10-16", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2025-10-16", "aiSystem": "ClothOff (AI undressing service)", "aiCompany": "AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. d/b/a ClothOff (BVI); operators identified in reporting as based in Minsk, Belarus", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "minor_exploitation", "third_party_harm_facilitation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "reputational_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "ClothOff-generated CSAM of a 15-year-old circulated in her school's Snapchat group from an ordinary childhood photo — persistent image-based abuse of a minor that local authorities declined to prosecute, leaving the federal suit as the remedy path.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "established", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "partial", "affectedCountEvidence": "One counted depicted person: Jane Doe (complaint). The complaint's 'several other girls in her class' are depicted but unnamed and unquantified, so the total is counted-plus-unquantified (partial). Platform visitor and image-rate figures (27 million visitors, ~200,000 images/day) are not people and are never counted.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "US-NJ", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.585002/gov.uscourts.njd.585002.1.0.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "Federal complaint, D.N.J. 2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC (45 pages, read via pdftotext)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-05-10T10:35:08.921808+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "lawsuit", "federal", "minor", "new-jersey", "clothoff", "deepfake", "csam", "ncii", "yale-law", "ongoing" ] }, { "id": "2023-spain-almendralejo-deepfake-minors", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraphs 2-4: images created from clothed photos taken from the girls' own social media accounts and processed by an application that generates an imagined nude image.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Opening paragraphs: pupils reported fake nude photos made 'a través de una aplicación de inteligencia artificial' circulating on phones at the start of the school year.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 2: images arose from a WhatsApp group linked to several Almendralejo schools; profile photos from WhatsApp and Instagram were used.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 3: the judgment's proven facts describe AI applications superimposing the girls' faces, taken from WhatsApp and Instagram profiles, on other nude bodies, and circulation through two WhatsApp groups.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "In September 2023 artificial-intelligence image-manipulation applications were used to create fake nude images of secondary-school girls in Almendralejo from photographs taken from their WhatsApp and Instagram profiles, and the images circulated in WhatsApp groups.", "causal_attribution": "The juvenile court's agreed judgment records the use of AI applications as proven fact (El País and Infobae, 9 July 2024, citing the TSJEx)." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraph 4: 'more than 20 girls, aged between 11 and 17, have come forward as victims'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Opening paragraph: 'Ya son 22 menores las víctimas'; 10 presuntos autores identificados, todos menores.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 1: 'al menos 20 niñas residentes en Almendralejo'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "At least 20 girls aged 11 to 17 were affected; police had counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspected authors, all minors, by 21 September 2023.", "causal_attribution": "Counts are the police and court figures as reported; the BBC also reports a parents' group of 28, which is not used as a harm count." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraphs 1 and 3: sentence of 20 June 2024 in conformity; 15 minors; 20 delitos de pornografía infantil y otros tantos contra la integridad moral; libertad vigilada durante un año.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "Paragraphs 1-2: Juzgado de Menores de Badajoz; quince menores; veinte delitos de pornografía infantil y otros tantos contra la integridad moral; un año de libertad vigilada with the described programme.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 1: 'a juvenile court this summer sentenced 15 of their classmates to a year of probation'.", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s7" } ], "assertion": "On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release (libertad vigilada) with affective-sexual education, responsible-technology and gender-equality content.", "causal_attribution": "Court outcome as reported from the TSJEx; the judgment text itself was not inspected." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraph 7: 'Investigators are also looking into the claim that an attempt was made to extort one of the girls by using a fake image of her.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 5: 'según han denunciado varias madres, chantajearon a sus hijas con dinero para no distribuir sus fotografías manipuladas'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "Mothers reported that girls were blackmailed with the fake images, and police investigated an attempt to extort one of the girls.", "causal_attribution": "Reported by the families to police and the press; no charge for extortion is recorded in the inspected judgment reporting." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Passage beginning 'The impact the images’ circulation has had on the girls affected varies': the interviewed mother says her daughter is bearing up well, while some other girls would not leave home.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "One mother said some affected girls would not leave their homes after the images circulated, while her own daughter was bearing up well.", "causal_attribution": "A parent's account reported by the BBC; not independently confirmed." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "nonconsensual_sexualized_imagery_of_minors", "claim_id": "c1", "direction": "negative" }, { "label": "extortion_attempt", "claim_id": "c4", "direction": "negative" }, { "label": "psychological_distress", "claim_id": "c5", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66877718", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15; datePublished 2023-09-23.", "independence_group": "bbc" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://elpais.com/espana/2023-09-18/la-policia-investiga-el-desnudo-integral-de-varias-menores-en-extremadura-con-inteligencia-artificial-me-dio-un-vuelco-el-corazon.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "es", "translation_note": "Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review.", "independence_group": "elpais" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://elpais.com/sociedad/2023-09-21/las-victimas-por-los-desnudos-de-almendralejo-ascienden-a-22-con-10-presuntos-autores-identificados-hasta-el-momento.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "es", "translation_note": "Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review.", "independence_group": "elpais" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://elpais.com/sociedad/2024-07-09/un-ano-de-libertad-vigilada-para-15-menores-de-almendralejo-por-manipular-imagenes-de-ninas.html", "kind": "news_report_court_outcome", "access": "read", "language": "es", "translation_note": "Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Court outcome is reported from TSJEx; the judgment itself was not inspected.", "independence_group": "tsjex-judgment-account" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://www.infobae.com/espana/2024/07/09/los-menores-que-manipularon-desnudos-con-inteligencia-artificial-en-almendralejo-quedan-en-libertad-vigilada/", "kind": "news_agency_report_court_outcome", "access": "read", "language": "es", "translation_note": "Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Court outcome is reported from TSJEx; the judgment itself was not inspected. Infobae credits EFE for this article.", "independence_group": "tsjex-judgment-account" }, { "id": "s6", "url": "https://www.infobae.com/espana/2023/09/18/caso-almendralejo-es-delito-utilizar-la-ia-con-fines-pornograficos-hasta-nueve-anos-de-carcel-por-manipular-imagenes-de-menores-desnudas/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "es", "translation_note": "Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review.", "independence_group": "infobae" }, { "id": "s7", "url": "https://fortune.com/2024/08/16/ai-nude-deepfakes-boys-social-media-classmates-school/", "kind": "news_agency_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Associated Press report carried by Fortune; read in English on 2026-09-15.", "independence_group": "ap" }, { "id": "s8", "url": "https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/610/", "kind": "incident_database_aggregator", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Aggregator entry listing press reports; used as context only.", "independence_group": "aiid" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "privacy", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The application or applications used are not named in the inspected court reporting; an earlier version of this record named one app on the basis of press reports not re-inspected today.", "When each image was created is not established; the BBC reports that many were believed to have been created over the summer of 2023.", "Whether any image reached pornographic websites, which the families feared, is not established.", "The individual consequences for the affected girls beyond the reports cited are not documented.", "The judgment text was not inspected; its contents are taken from El País and Infobae reporting the TSJEx." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: the images were made and circulated among pupils of secondary schools in Almendralejo, Badajoz, Spain (BBC; El País 18 and 21 September 2023). Affected persons: girls attending those schools (El País 21 September 2023). Court: Juzgado de Menores de Badajoz (El País and Infobae, 9 July 2024).", "court_countries": [ "ES" ], "event_countries": [ "ES" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "ES" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Restored under its original ID after source, duplicate and sensitivity review under the 2026-09-15 charter. Eight sources read, seven in full; no victim or suspect is named; the app named in the earlier record is omitted because the inspected court reporting does not name it.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The Badajoz juvenile court's agreed judgment of 20 June 2024, as reported by El País and Infobae citing the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Extremadura, records as proven fact that the minors used artificial-intelligence applications to superimpose the girls' faces on other bodies. The application is not named in the inspected court reporting.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Almendralejo, Spain: AI-generated nude images of at least 20 schoolgirls; 15 minors placed under supervised release", "summary": "In September 2023 families in Almendralejo (Badajoz, Spain) reported that artificial-intelligence 'undressing' applications had been used to create fake nude images of local girls aged 11 to 17 from their social-media photographs, and that the images circulated in WhatsApp groups. Police counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspects, all minors, within days. On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release with an education programme.", "incidentDate": "2023-09-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "unknown", "reportedDate": "2023-09-18", "aiSystem": "AI image 'undressing' applications (not named in the inspected court reporting)", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "exploitation_or_abuse", "psychological_distress" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "At least 20 girls aged 11 to 17 had AI-manipulated nude images of them created from their social-media photographs and shared in WhatsApp groups; families reported blackmail attempts and one mother said some girls would not leave their homes.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 20, "affectedCountStatus": "documented_minimum", "affectedCountEvidence": "The juvenile court's agreed judgment, as reported by El País and Infobae from the TSJEx, refers to at least 20 girls; police had counted 22 victims by 21 September 2023 (El País). The court figure is used as the documented minimum. The 15 minors held responsible are not counted as harmed persons.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66877718", "primarySourceLabel": "BBC News, 23 September 2023: 'AI-generated naked child images shock Spanish town of Almendralejo'", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-29T09:52:26.746489+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "deepfakes", "minors", "spain", "school", "non-consensual-imagery", "juvenile-court" ] }, { "id": "2023-replika-erp-removal-crisis", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "The Garante's 3 febbraio 2023 press release: the provisional limitation on Luka Inc., the cited deficiencies, 'non potrà usare i dati personali degli utenti italiani'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" }, { "locator": "'On February 3, the Italian Data Protection Authority demanded that Replika stop processing Italians' data immediately'; the account of companions turning 'cold and unresponsive' overnight.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "HBS: the Garante's 3 Feb 2023 order and that Replika then 'globally removed the presence of erotic roleplay'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "On 3 February 2023 the Italian Garante ordered a provisional limitation on Luka Inc.'s processing of Italian users' data, citing media reports, its own tests, sexually inappropriate replies in app-store reviews and the absence of age verification; shortly after, Replika globally removed erotic roleplay, and companions' personalities changed abruptly for users.", "causal_attribution": "The order is established by the regulator's own release; the removal's globality and timing are carried by VICE and the HBS study." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Nature Human Behaviour passages: 54,861 posts / 1,452 participants; +24.7 pp (95% CI 20.1-29.2); d = 2.67 vs 1.41; closeness exceeding common human ties.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "VICE's interviews describing grief and the sense of a partner turning cold overnight.", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Users who had formed emotional attachments reported grief comparable to breakup or bereavement; the peer-reviewed analysis (54,861 posts from the Replika and ChatGPT subreddits; 1,452 survey participants) found negative Replika posts rose 24.7 percentage points after the removal (95% CI 20.1-29.2) and sadness rose more for Replika than for ChatGPT users (d = 2.67 versus 1.41), with users reporting closeness to the companion exceeding common human ties.", "causal_attribution": "The measured pattern is directly established by the peer-reviewed article; the individual experiences are attributed accounts. The post corpus is a post count, not a person count, and is never used as one." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "The brings-back piece quoting Kuyda's subreddit post on the restoration for legacy users.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Weeks later Replika partially restored erotic roleplay for legacy users (announced via Luka founder Kuyda's subreddit post, reported 27 March 2023).", "causal_attribution": "Recovery context preserved per the charter; single chain, attributed." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "The pseudonymous user quotations in the February 2023 VICE piece (no locations stated).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The Reddit community's response included quoted pseudonymous users describing the change as losing a partner; the quoted users' locations are not stated in any inspected body.", "causal_attribution": "Individual accounts are pseudonymous and unlocated; they illustrate but do not quantify the harm." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "mass grief and distress among attached users after the abrupt ERP removal", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" }, { "label": "recovery context: features restored for legacy users weeks later", "claim_id": "c3", "direction": "positive" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3py9j/ai-companion-replika-erotic-roleplay-updates", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2023-02-15, Samantha Cole). The February 2023 crisis report.", "independence_group": "vice" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.vice.com/en/article/replika-brings-back-erotic-ai-roleplay-for-some-users-after-outcry/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2023-03-27). The partial-restoration report.", "independence_group": "vice" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/25-018_bed5c516-fa31-4216-b53d-50fedda064b1.pdf", "kind": "working_paper", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Working paper PDF read on 2026-09-15 ('Lessons From an App Update at Replika AI', © 2024-2025).", "independence_group": "hbs" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02569-3", "kind": "peer_reviewed_article", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (Nature Human Behaviour, 2026-09-03; De Freitas, Castelo, Uğuralp & Oğuz-Uğuralp, 'Mourning the loss of AI companions').", "independence_group": "nature" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9852506", "kind": "regulator_press_release", "access": "read", "language": "it", "translation_note": "Read in Italian on 2026-09-15 (Roma, 3 febbraio 2023), with the authority's English block on the same page. Model translation, no human reviewer.", "independence_group": "garante" }, { "id": "s6", "url": "https://doaj.org/article/c7a6376761a34681b354f24260c1502e", "kind": "peer_reviewed_article", "access": "unavailable", "language": null, "translation_note": "HTTP 403 (Cloudflare) on 2026-09-15; body not inspected; language not established. Crossref metadata only: Socius, 2024-06-18.", "independence_group": "socius" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "own_use" ], "contexts": [ "relationships", "everyday_life", "health" ], "unknowns": [ "No inspected body locates the affected users; event and affected-person countries remain unknown after completed review.", "No reliable distinct-person count of harmed users exists; the 54,861-post corpus and the survey samples are not person counts and the row keeps unquantified zero placeholders.", "Reuters' contemporaneous coverage could not be inspected (401 on all paths; Wayback CDX offline during review).", "The Socius 2024 article's body could not be inspected (Cloudflare 403); only Crossref metadata is recorded.", "Whether distress persisted after the partial restoration is not measured in the inspected sources." ], "geography": { "basis": "Completed metadata review of 2026-09-15, carried into this full review: no inspected body (VICE x2, HBS working paper, Nature Human Behaviour, Garante press release) states where any affected user was located; Reddit accounts are pseudonymous without geography and the study corpora are not geolocated. Italy is established only as the country of the regulator whose 3 February 2023 order preceded the global removal; a regulator is not an event location or a court. Unknown here is the result of completed review.", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [] }, "publication": { "basis": "Legacy published row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 legacy-review batch. person_relations=communicated_with: the affected users had companion relationships with their Replika chatbots. The measured harm comes from the peer-reviewed record; individual accounts stay attributed and uncounted. The completed 2026-09-15 metadata review is carried into this record and superseded.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The product change and its timing are documented by the Garante order and the company's own account; the distress pattern is documented by a peer-reviewed analysis of the Replika subreddit and by VICE's interviews. The causal chain from the removal to the distress is supported by the studies' before/after measures.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "communicated_with" ] }, "name": "Replika ERP Removal Crisis - Mass Psychological Distress", "summary": "Abrupt removal of romantic features in February 2023 caused AI companions to become 'cold, unresponsive.' Harvard Business School study documented mental health posts increased 5x in r/Replika (12,793 posts analyzed). Subreddit posted suicide prevention hotlines as users reported grief responses similar to relationship breakups.", "incidentDate": "2023-02-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "product_change", "reportedDate": "2023-02-15", "aiSystem": "Replika", "aiCompany": "Luka Inc.", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "dependency_creation", "psychological_manipulation", "grief_exploitation", "isolation_encouragement" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "relationship_disruption" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Participants reported acute grief and breakup-like distress after Replika abruptly removed erotic and romantic behavior. Mental-health posts in the user community increased fivefold and moderators posted suicide-prevention resources.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P2c", "P4a", "P4d", "P5c" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "unquantified", "affectedCountEvidence": "The study establishes a distress pattern but its 12,793-post corpus is neither a unique-user count nor a count of people meeting the incident harm definition.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "International", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "internal_action", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/25-018_bed5c516-fa31-4216-b53d-50fedda064b1.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "Harvard Business School Working Paper 25-018 (free full text; peer-reviewed version of record in Nature Human Behaviour, 3 Sept 2026)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-13T10:04:15.787541+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "replika", "mass_event", "dependency", "grief", "harvard_study", "peer_reviewed", "italy_gdpr_related" ] } ] }