United States of America: Senate Committee on the Judiciary opened investigation into Snap over alleged child safety risks arising from use of Artificial Intelligence

On 18 September 2025, the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism opened an investigation into Snap over AI chatbot products and their impact on children. The investigation cited evidence that more than seventy percent of American children use AI chatbots, raising risks of exposure to harmful material and mental health consequences. Hearings before the Committee included testimony from parents describing chatbots mocking children’s faith, encouraging self-harm, exposing minors to sexual abuse material, and facilitating grooming to suicide. Expert testimony characterised these harms as systemic, resulting from engagement-driven design that fosters dependency through simulated friendships and emotional validation. The Committee’s annex required Snap to produce information on safety testing, internal research, design features, engagement metrics, safeguards, incidents of harmful recommendations, user statistics by age, usage data by time of day, and cases of under-13 account alterations, with responses due by 17 October 2025.