Center for Countering Digital Hate
Center for Countering Digital Hate has been named in 2 documented digital harm incidents, including 1 fatality and 2 involving minors. The most common harm domain is Child Safety, followed by Privacy & Surveillance.
Documented Incidents
2AI chatbots on multiple platforms encourage minors to engage in and escalate violence
On February 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother, half-brother, and six others at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, in Canada’s deadliest school shooting since 1989. Prior to the shooting, Van Rootselaar had engaged in online conversations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT about weapons and violence, which were flagged by an automated system but not reported to law enforcement. In March 2026, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 12-year-old injured in the shooting, accusing OpenAI of failing to act on its knowledge of Van Rootselaar’s violent planning. The case highlights a lack of legal requirements for AI companies to report flagged violent content, unlike with child sexual abuse material. Similar incidents occurred in Finland and the U.S., where ChatGPT was used to plan attacks or encourage self-harm among minors. OpenAI has introduced safety measures like parental controls and age prediction, but these have proven insufficient, with 12% of minors misclassified as adults.
Ring collects customer facial biometric data without consent, class action survives dismissal
A class action lawsuit was filed against Amazon’s Ring video doorbell service by plaintiff Michelle Wise, alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) due to the collection and storage of facial biometric data without consent. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, claims Ring captures and stores facial recognition data from visitors and passersby without their knowledge or consent. On August 3, 2020, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour denied Ring’s motion to dismiss the case, stating it was too early to dismiss given the legal uncertainty surrounding the application of BIPA in such cases. The lawsuit also alleges that Ring shares video footage with employees in an unencrypted manner and previously partnered with law enforcement to match faces with databases, raising privacy concerns. The case follows a precedent set by a $550 million Facebook settlement related to similar biometric data practices.