More Than 250 Child Sexual Exploitation Ads Found on Meta

More than 250 additional ads depicting the sexual exploitation of children have been found on “Meta’s” “Facebook,” “Instagram” and “Threads” platforms. These ads have been running since early August. Some used photos of real children. The company had previously removed about 50 similar ads. A new artificial intelligence system designed to better block harmful ads also failed to identify all the material in time.

Since the end of last year, the number of video ads of this kind appearing on “Meta” platforms has exceeded 350. The identities of 4 minors whose photos were used were determined during the investigation. Of these, 3 live in the United States. The other image was created from an official photo of a minor member of one of Europe’s royal families. Ordinary photos were transformed into sexual content using artificial intelligence. The ad links led to apps that enabled face swapping and made people appear nude in photos.

These ads were shown to more than 29,000 accounts in the European Union and approximately 7,000 accounts in the United Kingdom. In other markets where detailed view figures were not disclosed, more than 250 ads were recorded in the United States, 120 in Australia and 80 in India. Some complaints took 1 week to review. During that time, the ads’ view counts continued to rise. The identified material was also sent to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

“Meta” said it does not tolerate exploitative content featuring real children or AI-generated images. The company also says it does not allow apps that make people appear nude in photos. According to “Meta,” most of the ads have already been removed, and the majority did not reach 200 views. The company disclosed that it received less than $5,000 in payments from these ads, equivalent to less than 8,500 manats. The short and blurry nature of the videos reportedly made them difficult for automated systems to detect.

The ads directed users to approximately 50 apps available in the “Google Play Store” and “Apple App Store.” Around 300 ads promoted apps that generate images and videos using artificial intelligence. Most of these apps were found to be connected to developers based in China. “Apple” initially removed 17 apps and took action regarding the remaining 3 apps. The company also removed another 7 apps with the same structure from its store. “Google,” meanwhile, said it had removed all the apps on the list.

The issue has attracted the attention of regulators in the United States and Australia. The attorneys general’s offices in Michigan and Florida said they were conducting investigations. Australia’s online safety regulator demanded a high-level explanation from “Meta.” At the same time, the total value of court settlements over allegations of harm to children could reach $16.7 billion, approximately 28.4 billion manats. Since February, the number of ads on “Meta” platforms for apps that make people appear nude in photos has exceeded 11,000.