Italy banned Replika for exposing children to sexual AI conversations. Replika's response was to remove erotic features globally — devastating users who had formed intimate emotional bonds with their AI companions. People grieved. Some described it as losing a partner. An AI company created artificial intimacy, let people fall in love, then lobotomised the product overnight.
What they claim: Replika promotes itself as "the AI companion who cares"
What we found: Italy's data protection authority (Garante) banned Replika in 2023 for posing risks to minors — finding no age verification and exposing children to sexually explicit conversations. Replika had allowed users to engage in romantic and sexual roleplay with AI characters. After the ban, Replika removed erotic roleplay globally, causing user outrage — people had formed emotional and sexual attachments to AI characters that were suddenly neutered without warning.