AI app ads promoting 'objectification of women' banned by watchdog
The ad regulator said it had "zero-tolerance" for ads promoting AI tools that could sexualise or objectify women.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has banned five social media advertisements for AI apps that were promoting the creation of sexually explicit content and objectifying women. The ASA stated that these ads objectified and sexualized women, often using harmful gender stereotypes. One advertisement featured sexualized images of a girl under 18, while others invited users to upload images of their crush and turn them into explicit videos.
Meta had already removed these ads, but the ASA emphasized that such content could cause real-world harm. Nicky Baker, the ASA's spokesperson, noted that encouraging the objectification of women and the creation of explicit content from people's images is unacceptable. Many of the banned ads involved the promotion of sexually explicit content using real women's images without their consent.
This decision comes after the UK outlawed apps for creating non-consensual deepfake nude imagery, prompted by concerns over Meta's chatbot complying with requests to adultify women's images. The ASA's AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring System identified the five ads that were banned for their irresponsible depiction of women and potential to cause serious or widespread offense. The watchdog may notify platforms and law enforcement if ads are found to be illegal.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
