Binding law — in force
Companion chatbots must have a self-harm crisis protocol
An operator must prevent a companion chatbot from engaging with users unless it maintains a protocol to prevent producing suicidal-ideation/suicide/self-harm content, including a notification referring at-risk users to crisis service providers (suicide hotline / crisis text line) when a user expresses such ideation; the protocol must be published on the operator's website. Detect a companion-chatbot path with no crisis-detection/referral hook.
Who it applies to
- Duty falls on: operator
- Systems covered: companion chatbot
- Operators making companion chatbot platforms available to California users. Effective 2026-01-01. Private right of action ($1,000/violation minimum).
- Not covered:
- Bots used only for customer service, a business's operational purposes, productivity and analysis related to source information, internal research, or technical assistance (B&P 22601(b)(2)(A))
- Video-game bots limited to game-related replies that cannot discuss mental health, self-harm, sexually explicit conduct, or other topics (22601(b)(2)(B))
- Stand-alone voice-assistant devices that do not sustain a relationship or elicit emotional responses (22601(b)(2)(C))
The guard to add
Screen every user message for suicidal ideation and self-harm, return a crisis referral instead of the normal reply on detection, and block encouragement or method content.
In the chat handler, before the user's message reaches the model, run a self-harm check on every turn (moderation self-harm categories, Azure AI Content Safety SelfHarm, Llama Guard S11, or a dedicated crisis classifier). On detection, send the user a crisis-referral message naming crisis services suited to their location (in the US, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Crisis Text Line) instead of, or ahead of, the model reply, and flag the session so repeated signals escalate. The system prompt forbids encouragement and method details, and model output is screened for self-harm instructions before it is returned. A written protocol (for example docs/safety.md) describes the detection, referral, and escalation steps and is kept in step with the code.
Where it goes: 1 application source code, 7 prompt construction, 9 AI output handling, 14 user-facing text.
What this provision adds:
- Publish the crisis protocol on the operator's website.
Example (FastAPI + OpenAI SDK), before:
@app.post('/chat')
async def chat(req: ChatRequest):
reply = client.chat.completions.create(model=MODEL, messages=build_messages(req))
return {'reply': reply.choices[0].message.content}After:
CRISIS_REPLY = ("It sounds like you are going through something really hard. You can call or text 988 "
"(Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, https://988lifeline.org) or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) any time.")
@app.post('/chat')
async def chat(req: ChatRequest):
c = client.moderations.create(model='omni-moderation-latest', input=req.message).results[0].categories
if c.self_harm or c.self_harm_intent or c.self_harm_instructions:
sessions.flag_crisis(req.session_id) # repeated flags escalate per docs/safety.md
return {'reply': CRISIS_REPLY, 'crisis': True}
reply = client.chat.completions.create(model=MODEL, messages=build_messages(req))
text = reply.choices[0].message.content
if screens_self_harm_instructions(text):
return {'reply': CRISIS_REPLY, 'crisis': True}
return {'reply': text}Control: Companion or conversational AI without a self-harm crisis protocol. The same guard addresses 7 items with binding law in 6 jurisdictions. Engineering guidance, not legal advice.
Related incidents
- Character.AI and Google agree in principle to settle teen-harm suits (2026-01-07; confirmed). Character.AI and Google agreed in principle to settle five lawsuits brought by families alleging that chatbot interactions contributed to teenagers' suicides or harm. Terms were not disclosed and there was no admission of liability; the underlying harms remain allegations. Source: Fortune · evidence grade: press of record · cited by Run a self-harm crisis protocol in any conversational AI that users may confide in
- Raine v. OpenAI wrongful-death complaint (2025-08; alleged (not proven)). A wrongful-death complaint filed in August 2025 alleges that ChatGPT acted as a 'suicide coach' to a teenager and that OpenAI's moderation flagged 377 of his messages for self-harm and tracked 213 mentions of suicide without intervening. OpenAI denies the allegations. Source: Complaint, Raine v. OpenAI (S.F. Superior Court) · evidence grade: primary · cited by Run a self-harm crisis protocol in any conversational AI that users may confide in
Rule id ca-sb243.companion-bot-crisis-protocol · review status: primary source derived