Meta Failed to Catch Hundreds of AI Child Abuse Ads. Some Included Images of Real Kids
Images of real children—including a member of a European royal family—were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Lawmakers say they plan to investigate.
Meta failed to catch hundreds of AI-generated child abuse ads featuring images of real minors, according to researchers at the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project. The organization discovered 256 additional such ads running on Meta's platforms since August, including a video that mimicked an official photograph of a European royal family member.
These ads were distributed on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger, and many linked to "nudification" apps developed by Chinese companies. Meta has published over 350 of these abusive ads since the end of last year, with many violating the company's policies on child exploitation, adult exploitation, and nudity. While the ads have been removed, they were shown to thousands of users across Europe, the UK, US, Australia, and India before being taken down.
Meta's spokesperson stated that the company does not tolerate child exploitation, whether real or AI-generated, and has removed hundreds of thousands of such ads in the past.
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