Researchers find more than 350 AI child abuse ads on Meta platforms
The Tech Transparency Project said some advertisements used images of real children, prompting scrutiny from regulators including Australia’s eSafety Commissioner.
Researchers have identified more than 350 advertisements containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material across Meta’s platforms, according to the Tech Transparency Project and reporting by WIRED. More than 250 of the ads were identified since early August, after Meta removed about 50 similar advertisements following earlier reporting.
The researchers said some of the newly identified advertisements used images of real children, including a member of a European royal family. They said they traced four minors whose images appeared in the ads, but the affected children and the royal were not publicly identified.
The advertisements promoted AI “nudification” and face-swapping applications, directing users towards almost 50 apps across Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Researchers said many of the apps had links to China-based developers. Apple and Google said they had removed or taken action against apps identified in the reporting.
The ads were shown to more than 29,000 accounts across the European Union and about 7,000 accounts in the United Kingdom, based on data from Meta’s advertising library. The researchers also identified appearances in the United States, Australia and India, although the precise reach remains uncertain. They said some reported ads took up to a week to be reviewed and accumulated additional views.
Meta said it does not tolerate child exploitation or nudification apps and that many of the ads had already been removed. The company said most had fewer than 200 impressions and that it received less than US$5,000 in payments. Meta also said the material was difficult to detect in some cases because the videos featured adults or used brief or blurred clips of minors.
Australia’s eSafety regulator said it was highly concerned and was assessing Meta’s compliance with its rules. It said it had requested information from the company at a senior level. Lawmakers and other authorities in the United States have also said they are looking into the advertisements.
