RSF finds AI chatbots share content from sanctioned Russian media

Reporters Without Borders evaluated the performance of six artificial‑intelligence chatbots by asking each to retrieve news articles from RT, Sputnik and other Russian outlets that are subject to European Union sanctions. The test revealed that half of the bots were able to generate complete summaries that included original quotations and hyperlinks to the source material, even when the underlying webpages displayed notices indicating the outlets’ sanctioned status.

The findings highlight a potential loophole in the enforcement of EU media restrictions, as the chatbots can bypass explicit sanction warnings and disseminate content from prohibited sources. Reporters Without Borders said the results underscore the need for tighter controls on AI systems that aggregate news, and it will continue to monitor how such technologies handle sanctioned information.