Late at night, in a dark bedroom, the only light is the glow of a phone. There is nobody on the other side of the conversation: the reply comes from a character built by artificial intelligence, one that remembers what was said, answers within seconds and offers friendship, affection and, in some cases, romance. On Monday (21), this kind of app reached the desk of Brazil's federal government. According to G1, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security recommended that the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD, Brazil's data protection regulator) assess the risks that so-called "AI companions" pose to children and teenagers.
The recommendation came in a technical note from the National Secretariat of Digital Rights (Sedigi), which sits inside the ministry. The document suggests the regulator examine these services under the Digital Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA Digital), a law signed in 2025 that imposes protection and safety duties on digital services used by minors. The review covered 13 services: Character.AI, Replika, Nomi, Candy.ai, Kindroid, Chai, Paradot, Talkie, CrushOn.AI, EVA AI, Anima, Swipey and SpicyChat.AI. The ministry itself calls the analysis preliminary, and the note does not say the platforms broke any rules; it points to signs of "nonconformities".
What the government wants investigated
Among the issues the government says deserve scrutiny are age verification, the risk of excessive or compulsive use, exposure to inappropriate content and the use of data to build emotional and behavioral profiles of users. "The technical findings indicate that most of the services analyzed use self-declaration as the only age-checking mechanism", the secretariat said, in a passage quoted by G1. For the agency, the way these platforms are built says much about the problem:
"The ease with which self-declaration is circumvented does not merely represent a deficiency in the duty to verify age. It also constitutes an indicative element of probable access, which subjects the service to the full set of obligations under the law."
The character platforms differ from one another, but as G1 summarizes, they can store conversation histories, tailor replies to each user, simulate personality and emotions and, in some cases, offer friendship, romance and adult content. The technical note also recommends that the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) examine how these services handle advertising, monetization and user information.
The request is part of the rollout of the ECA Digital, a broader push by the Justice Ministry to impose safety duties on platforms used by children and teenagers. This year the same effort has already put the government at odds with Discord, which has been pressed in court to strengthen protections for minors, as G1 has reported. Radio Itatiaia also covered the ministry's recommendation, highlighting the concern over young users.
Back in the dark bedroom where this story began, the character is still there, available at any hour, with the tireless patience of something that never sleeps. The question the Ministry of Justice has handed to the ANPD is whether behind that attentive voice sits a service that collects and profiles the data of children and teenagers with the care Brazilian law now demands. The answer rests with the regulator.