Over the last nine months, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has run dozens of paid ads featuring explicit AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of minors paired with sexually suggestive statements. According to findings by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) shared with WIRED, these ads targeted users in the United States, United Kingdom, and more than a dozen European countries.
Systemic Failures in Ad Review
More than 50 image and video ads containing abusive content were discovered in Meta’s ad library—a transparency tool cataloging ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads. Some listings linked to so-called "nudify" or undressing apps. Katie Paul, director of the TTP, emphasized that this was not third-party content but ads that were reviewed, approved, and allowed to run by Meta while the company collected ad revenue.
Content Nature and Reach
Researchers described video ads that used thumbnail images of children which, when played, morphed into depictions of sexual acts. While many ads had minimal reach, at least one reached 2,563 accounts in Europe, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the UK. Disturbingly, several ads remained live and were shown to users even after WIRED first questioned Meta about the content.
Meta’s Response and Industry Fallout
Following contact from WIRED, Meta removed the offending ads and stated it works aggressively to keep sexual exploitation off its platform. The company claimed many of the ads predated its recently launched AI detection tools. In a related move, Apple removed the "MaskAI" app from its App Store after a review revealed it contained AI-generated pornography, violating policies against nudification apps.
“These ads made no effort to mask the images or hide what they were promoting,” says Katie Paul, director of the TTP.
