The National Parent Teachers Association of Jamaica, NPTAJ, has welcomed the move by the Ministry of Health to suspend the Yute Chatz chatbot.
The chatbot was suspended amid concerns that the content promotes unsupervised sexual and deviant behaviour in children.
We have more in this report from Shaloy Smikle.
The Ministry of Health says it will be conducting assessments on the Yute Chatz chatbot in relation to the health and family life policy of the Government of Jamaica. Services on the platform will be suspended while the assessments take place.
Yute Chatz is a chatbot launched by the National Family Planning Board, NFPB, in collaboration with UNICEF and U-Report Jamaica. It has been operational since January, 2024.
It aims to give children access to information to improve their knowledge, promote risk reduction measures, and increase access to sexual and reproductive health and mental health services.
The chatbot provides information to children aged 13 and older.
A user can simply type the word “Yute” into the number provided in order to gain access. It then provides four names and gives the user the option to choose who they would wish to speak with.
It then asks for a nickname, the parish you’re from, and for you to select an age group. It then gives you the option of inputting your gender, whether it’s male, female, or if you prefer not to say.
The user then has the option to continue talking with the selected representative, a counsellor, or unsubscribe from the process.
If the user wishes to continue talking, the chatbot lists several topics from which to choose, including contraceptives, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, gender, and sexuality.
The NFPB says the content was researched and evaluated to ensure appropriateness.
But president of the NPTAJ, Stewart Jacobs, disagrees.
Mr. Jacobs says parental guidance should have been a requirement, given some of the topics the platform provides.
Meanwhile, president of Love March Movement, Dr Daniel Thomas, says the information on the Yute Chatz platform is promoting deviant sexual behaviours.
Dr. Thomas says the chatbot should not only be suspended, but permanently removed.
Dr. Daniel Thomas, president of the Love March Movement.
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