RALEIGH, N.C. (WLOS) — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson has taken actions to protect children from deepfake pornography and AI chatbots that engage in inappropriate conduct with underage users.

This comes after Jackson and 37 other attorneys general demanded that Instagram make immediate changes to its location-sharing feature to protect children.

Monday, Aug. 25, Jackson, along with a group of 44 attorneys general, demanded that Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and AI tech companies protect children from predatory AI products, according to a news release from Jackson’s office.

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On Tuesday, Aug. 26, Jackson joined a group of 47 attorneys general in writing to search engines, banks, and payment platforms demanding that they take stronger steps to prevent people from profiting from creating, sharing, and selling deepfake non-consensual intimate imagery.

“AI can create enormous opportunities, but companies must do far more to keep users – especially children – safe from harmful content and AI-driven risks,” Jackson said in the release. “There’s no excuse for putting kids’ physical or mental health in jeopardy. These platforms need to step up now.”

According to the release, the attorneys general raised concerns about recent revelations that Meta’s AI policies allow its AI assistants to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”

The attorneys general are urging tech companies with public AI tools to review and revise policies to protect children and prioritize their well-being.

Jackson also outlined the failures of search engine companies to limit the creation of deepfakes while also calling for stronger safeguards, like displaying warning signs and redirecting users away from harmful content.

The coalition also wrote to payment platforms, urging these companies to take bolder actions to protect the public by identifying and removing payment authorization for deepfake content, the release said. Additionally, they argue that criminals may create and use content to blackmail and coerce victims into paying them or creating more content.

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The release says it’s important for families to take precautions to keep children safe online.

Those precautions are as follows:

• Review privacy settings and set up parental controls for accounts that your child uses. Consider email, social media apps, payment platforms, games, search engines, and your home WiFi network. You can filter or block content as appropriate for your child. Understand that these tools are limited and often difficult to use, and there is no substitute for limiting your child’s screen time. Visit the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health for more.
• Talk with your child about the existence of deepfake pornography and how it can be used to harm and extort victims. Remind them that a lot of what they see online isn’t real, and they should be skeptical about what they see. For more resources, visit here.
• Remind children to be careful of what information they share online – whether it’s with a friend, a stranger, or an AI tool. Anything you share online will likely always exist in some form.
• Keep an eye on your child’s behavior. Watch for changes that indicate that they may be experiencing challenges, and have conversations about those changes.
• If you become aware of deepfake pornography involving a minor, report it immediately to local law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the CyberTipLine.