WhatsApp AI Stickers Controversy: Adding Guns to Palestine, But Not Israel

There is now a controversy stirring on WhatsApp, and this centers on the platform's AI stickers which were said to add guns to Palestinians, but not for the opposing forces of Israel. The massive conflict between Israel and Hamas has brought a great divide in technology recently, with different platforms seeing content leaning from one side to the other.

Still, this controversy centers on Meta's generative AI stickers which already faced several complaints before for their "unsafe" creations via its Messenger and Instagram apps.

WhatsApp AI Stickers Controversy: Adds Guns for Palestine but Not Israel

The Verge reported on the massive controversy surrounding WhatsApp and Meta now, and this is because of its generative AI stickers that are created via text prompts adding guns to the children of Palestine. As per the report, whenever typing "Palestine" via prompts, it would show children holding guns, also surrounding similar words via the technology.

Initially, The Guardian reported this last week, but according to them, prompting the world "Israel" would not produce the same images, unlike the opposing country.

It was said that an anonymous source claimed that WhatsApp workers already flagged and escalated the issue, centering on all the prompts regarding Israel, Palestine, Hamas, and related topics.

Is Meta to Blame for the Generative AI Stickers on WhatsApp?

As mentioned earlier, Meta has seen massive heat for its generative AI stickers before, centering on its two social media platforms creating unsafe content when prompted by users. However, this new controversy centers on its instant messaging app subsidiary, WhatsApp, with Meta already telling The Verge that it is addressing this problem now and will "continue to improve these features."

Meta's Generative AI Sticker and the Israel-Hamas War

The latest case that involves Meta's technology focuses on the Israel-Hamas war, but before that, it faced complaints and firsthand accounts from users that its generative AI creation was unsafe for the world. This involves the Messenger and Instagram platforms, with users showing the unmoderated and uncontrolled AI generation through its stickers, creating NSFW and inappropriate content that is widely accessible.

Amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict, Big Tech is also facing a significant battle from regulators, particularly in the European Union where it is now questioning various companies for their efforts amidst it. Meta and TikTok were among those questioned recently, but Elon Musk's X was also involved earlier for the circulating fake news on the platform regarding this problem.

The Israel-Hamas war involved the Israelites, the Palestinians, and the Islamist militant group Hamas, which brought significant attacks against the other, already dealing massive casualties among the sides. Meta's generative AI stickers accessible via WhatsApp are now caught in this controversy, and this is because it added guns to Palestinians but not the Israeli side.