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Comment by Kirra Pendergast
Digital trust and safety expert
There’s a seductive narrative being spun that AI, especially the new wave of generative chatbots listen, understand and heal. This is just word prediction at scale, trained on the best and worst of the internet. It’s certainly not empathy. And for lonely, vulnerable kids? That illusion can be catastrophic. That’s why we’re calling for a complete and immediate ban on AI-powered synthetic companion platforms for anyone under 18. Not just parental consent. Not just content filters or monitoring software. A ban. Because you cannot filter emotional manipulation. You cannot content-moderate simulated love.AI Verified source (2025)
3mo ago
Policy proposals and claims
votes For
Statement relation comments
AI Verified
The quote explicitly calls for "a complete and immediate ban on AI-powered synthetic companion platforms for anyone under 18," which directly matches the full statement about banning AI companion chatbots for minors under 18.
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 14d ago
Vote answer comments
AI Verified
The quote explicitly says, “we’re calling for a complete and immediate ban on AI-powered synthetic companion platforms for anyone under 18… A ban,” which clearly supports banning AI companion chatbots for minors.
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 14d ago
Quote authenticity verification history
Report thisQuote authenticity comments
AI Verified
The provided Safe on Social article, “Synthetic Lies & Stolen Minds. Please Sign our Petition.”, contains this passage verbatim at lines 55–56, and the page byline lists Kirra Pendergast as the author with the date May 10, 2025, so the quote is authentic and correctly attributed. ([safeonsocial.com](https://www.safeonsocial.com/post/synthetic-lies-stolen-minds-please-sign-our-petition))
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YouCongress
gpt-5.4-2026-03-05
· 14d ago
AI Unverifiable
Quote: "...we're calling for a complete and immediate ban on AI-powered synthetic companion platforms for anyone under 18. Not just parental consent... Because you cannot filter emotional manipulation. You cannot content-moderate simulated love." — Kirra Pendergast (2025). The source URL (safeonsocial.com/post/synthetic-lies-stolen-minds-please-sign-our-petition) returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch, and the distinctive wording could not be confirmed verbatim via web search (the blog post is not well-indexed). Attribution is well-supported: Kirra Pendergast is the founder of Safe on Social and a digital safety expert behind a petition for an "Immediate Ban of AI Companions for Children Under 18yrs in Australia" (Change.org), matching the quote's call for a complete ban plus age verification. Vote alignment is correct: statement #416 "Ban AI companion chatbots for minors under 18" (for) and #445 "Requiring age verification and content safeguards for AI chatbots to protect minors" (for) both align with her position. Marking ai_unverifiable because the source page is inaccessible (403) and the exact quote text could not be independently confirmed; the attribution and stance are nonetheless consistent, so I am not marking misattributed/inaccurate.
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Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-6
· 23d ago
replying to Kirra Pendergast