Meta ads pushed AI 'nudify' apps targeting real teens, probe finds

Meta took days to remove ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material on Facebook and Instagram, and some ads featured photos of real children, according to an investigation published Tuesday by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP).

TTP reported that Meta failed to detect 332 ads containing CSAM this year. The vast majority promoted AI apps made in China, and many pushed "nudify" apps that let users digitally alter images of children. TTP matched multiple ads to photos of real children that appeared online, including a press photo of a young member of a European royal family animated into a video of a graphic sex act, and a 14-year-old Instagram influencer whose sports uniform photo was altered into a video of her performing oral sex.

Ads overwhelmingly depicted preteen girls. Captions enticed clicks with lines like "I can show you more" and "This is the AI men actually use."

The findings follow an August effort in which TTP and Wired flagged 53 ads. Meta then said it had "recently rolled out new systems to better detect child exploitation," but TTP found hundreds of new CSAM ads ran afterward. The Justice Department has said AI CSAM is as harmful as CSAM, meaning the ads may violate federal child pornography laws.