Richard Blumenthal
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Connecticut and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioning witnesses at a subcommittee hearing
Response to this claim
The First Amendment bars Megan Garcia's claims against Character.AI because they would impose liability for expressive content that the platform's users have a right to receive.
“And I know one of the defenses offered here in response to your litigation is, well, it's not a product, it's a service. So we're not liable under the laws that relate to product liability. They got other defenses like the First Amendment. Well, this is a service offered for profit. It's not a First Amendment privilege of free expression.”
The printed record of the September 16, 2025 hearing, published by the Government Publishing Office. It includes Megan Garcia's spoken testimony and senators' questions to the parents and experts on the panel.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is Character.AI's argument that the First Amendment bars tort claims seeking to hold it liable for its chatbots' output. Condemned: Blumenthal rejects the First Amendment defense raised in the parents' litigation, saying a service offered for profit is not a privilege of free expression. The closest competing label is Challenged characterization; it loses because he rejects the defense's application to the claims rather than a description used in it.