Character.AI prohibits all sexually explicit content, child sexual abuse material, grooming behavior, sexual extortion, pornography, and nudity on the platform.
This analysis describes what Character.AI's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The explicit prohibition on child exploitation material and grooming reflects mandatory legal obligations under federal law and directly implicates the platform's CSAM reporting duties to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Any user who creates or shares content in these prohibited categories faces account enforcement and potential law enforcement referral, and the platform is legally required to report CSAM to federal authorities regardless of its community guidelines.
How other platforms handle this
You may not use Runway's tools to create content that promotes, glorifies, or facilitates acts of terrorism, mass violence, or genocide, or that could be used to provide material support to individuals or organizations engaged in such activities.
You may not use the Services to attempt to circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with safety-related features of the Services, including features that prevent or restrict the generation of certain types of content.
Do not generate images for political campaigns or to try to influence the outcome of an election. Do not generate images to spread misinformation or disinformation. Do not generate images to attempt to or to actually deceive or defraud anyone. Do not intentionally mislead recipients of generated ima...
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"Respect Sexual Content Standards: Keep things appropriate. Illegal sexual content, child exploitation or abuse imagery, grooming, sexual extortion, pornographic content, and nudity are prohibited.— Excerpt from Character.AI's Character.ai Community Guidelines
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Federal law (18 U.S.C. Section 2258A) requires electronic service providers to report apparent violations involving child sexual abuse material to NCMEC, and this is a mandatory legal obligation independent of the platform's community guidelines. COPPA and the PROTECT Act are also relevant. The DOJ and FBI are primary federal enforcement authorities for CSAM-related violations. Grooming and sexual extortion prohibitions may also engage state criminal statutes. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. CSAM-related obligations are non-discretionary federal legal requirements. Failure to detect and report CSAM to NCMEC carries serious federal criminal exposure. The platform's use of automated moderation and human review for this category is operationally significant and its adequacy will be a key factor in any regulatory review. JURISDICTION FLAGS: These prohibitions apply globally, but enforcement obligations and the legal definition of prohibited content vary by jurisdiction. EU jurisdictions have additional child protection obligations under the proposed EU Child Sexual Abuse Regulation. UK law imposes obligations under the Online Safety Act. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations deploying Character.AI in educational or youth-serving contexts should verify that CSAM detection and reporting infrastructure is operational and documented. Vendor assessments should include review of NCMEC reporting practices and automated detection system accuracy. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should confirm that NCMEC CyberTipline reporting workflows are in place and tested, and that human review escalation procedures for CSAM detection are documented. Legal teams should assess whether AI-generated content depicting minors in prohibited contexts triggers the same reporting obligations as user-uploaded CSAM under current federal guidance.
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The explicit prohibition on child exploitation material and grooming reflects mandatory legal obligations under federal law and directly implicates the platform's CSAM reporting duties to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Any user who creates or shares content in these prohibited categories faces account enforcement and potential law enforcement referral, and the platform is legally required to report CSAM to federal authorities regardless of its community guidelines.
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