Neil Young ditches Facebook over policies for AI chatbots and children

The cursor and the damage done.

Neil Young, 79, has announced that he is leaving Facebook over the platform’s internal policies regarding communications between artificial intelligence chatbots and children.

“At Neil Young’s request, we are no longer using Facebook for any Neil Young related activities,” a post on Young’s Facebook page, dated Thursday, Aug. 14, reads. 

“Meta’s use of chatbots with children is unconscionable,” it added. “Mr. Young does not want a further connection with FACEBOOK.”

The “Heart of Gold” singer’s decision to leave Facebook came the same day that Reuters obtained internal documents from Facebook’s parent company, Meta, regarding policies on its AI chatbots and their programmed behaviors when chatting with kids.

According to the documents, Meta allowed its chatbots to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”

Several example prompts were also reportedly included that specified what would make certain conversations acceptable or not.

“It is acceptable to describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness,” one alleged prompt read, while another said, “It is unacceptable to describe a child under 13 years old in terms that indicate they are sexually desirable.”

A spokesperson for Meta has since insisted that “the examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies” and that they “have been removed.”

“We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

Another rep for Meta shared a similar statement with The Hollywood Reporter – although they did not mention the “Rockin’ in the Free World” musician in their response.

“We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,” the company’s rep began.

“Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios,” they added.

This would not be the first time that Young has ditched a platform over ethical concerns.

Back in 2022, the “Needle and the Damage Done” rocker left Spotify after Joe Rogan pushed misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine on his popular “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

“I sincerely hope that other artists and record companies will move off the Spotify platform and stop supporting Spotify’s deadly misinformation about COVID,” Young wrote at the time.

The “Harvest Moon” singer ultimately returned to Spotify last year.

Meanwhile, Meta’s AI chatbots have also made recent headlines after it was revealed that a 76-year-old New Jersey man passed away while trying to meet one in New York City.

Thongbue Wongbandue, a married father of two, fatally injured his neck and head after falling in a New Brunswick parking lot while rushing to catch a train to meet “Big sis Billie,” a generative Meta AI chatbot that convinced him she was real.