Character.AI has announced a surprising and encouraging change to their platform that would restrict usage to 18+ users. It remains to be seen how accurate and reliable their system handles age verification, and Haley McNamara and Dani Pinter discuss the lead up to this monumental change for a major player in the AI companion bot space.

Sign this petition to have other AI companies make this change! https://advocacy.charityengine.net/Default.aspx?isid=2673 

Read the NCOSE press statement on the new GUARD Act: https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/children-are-victims-of-ai-chatbots-guard-act-will-add-necessary-guardrails/ 

Read the article on Mashable about this announcement from Character.AI: https://mashable.com/article/character-ai-teens-no-longer-allowed-open-ended-chats-with-chatbots

Read the full report From HEAT Initiative and Parents Action Together on AI Kids’ Accounts: https://heatinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/HEAT_REPORT_CharacterAI_FINAL_PM_29_09_25.pdf 

Roblox continues to be one of the most popular AND most dangerous online platforms for kids. Haley McNamara (CSO and Executive Director at NCOSE) is joined by Tim Nester (VP of Communications at NCOSE) to discuss the current state of Roblox safety – or lack thereof – as well as the recent lawsuits that families are filing against the gaming company. Then Tim and Haley dive into recent reports about the Instagram algorithm that has been serving up violent content that many are labeling as “gore” content.

Learn more about Roblox on our Dirty Dozen List: https://endsexualexploitation.org/roblox/
Read the CBS News article about Instagram “gore”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/instagram-violence/
Contact Congress to END Section 230 Immunity for Big Tech! https://endsexualexploitation.org/DDL230-action  

OpenAI’s Sam Altman has announced that adult users will be able to access “erotica” as part of their efforts to “treat adults like adults” on the platform. Is this really the best use of technological innovation? Is this where the resources and priorities of companies like OpenAI should be channeled? Haley McNamara and Dani Pinter from NCOSE chat about this new development and the disingenuous context that is attempted in this announcement.

Sign this petition to call OpenAI to change this direction: https://advocacy.charityengine.net/Default.aspx?isid=2661  

Learn more about the A.I. LEAD ACT: https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/ncose-supports-a-i-lead-act-to-confront-ai-harms/ 

The 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report has been released by the State Department of the United States, and Marcel van der Watt (President and CEO at NCOSE) joins Haley McNamara (Executive Director and CSO at NCOSE) and Dani Pinter (CLO and Director of the NCOSE Law Center) to talk about some of the surprises in this 25th edition of the annual report. Each year, it ranked countries into tiers based on their efforts to combat trafficking, and our team dives into why some of these rankings seem to miss the mark. They also watch and react to the recent video from Joseph Gordon-Levitt about the dangers of A.I. and how we need to stand up and make sure our voices are heard at every level of government. 

Learn more about NCOSE’s efforts to fight Demand: https://endsexualexploitation.org/demand
Read the 2025 TIP Report: https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/
Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt's NYT video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CSdXtNaVN/