Meta has run dozens of paid advertisements that contained AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of minors alongside sexually suggestive statements over the past nine months, according to details shared with WIRED by researchers at the Tech Transparency Project (TTP).

The ads were targeted at people in the United States, the United Kingdom and more than a dozen European countries, according to data in Meta's ad library, and some reached several thousand accounts. The ads were removed only after WIRED contacted Meta about the findings, the researchers said.

Researchers Detail Ads in Meta's Ad Library

More than 50 image and video ads containing abusive content were discovered in Meta's ad library by TTP researchers, according to the report, with some listings linking to so-called nudify or undressing apps. Meta's ad library, a transparency tool that catalogs ads displayed on the company's platforms, showed the ads running across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads, the researchers said. Most of the ads were not actively being shown to users when they were found, but they remained available in the ad library for months, according to the report.

"These ads made no effort to mask the images or hide what they were promoting," Katie Paul, director of TTP, told WIRED. Paul said the ads were "reviewed, approved and allowed to run by Meta."

One video ad used a thumbnail of a child sitting on the floor with text reading "Realizing Deep Fantasies with Generation AI [sic]," according to the researchers. Another repeatedly posted ad showed a young girl in a sexual position with the text "I can show you more.”

At least one ad reached 2,563 accounts in Europe, including users in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., according to Meta's data. Nudify applications – which use artificial intelligence (AI) to remove clothing from images of people – have drawn about 24 million visitors to undressing websites, according to a study by social network analysis company Graphika cited by NaturalNews.com ^[1].

Meta Removes Ads After Inquiry

Meta removed the ads after WIRED reached out, according to the company, citing violations of its policies on child sexual exploitation and abuse material and adult sexual solicitation and nudity. "Sexual exploitation is horrific, and we work aggressively to keep it off our platform," a Meta spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said most of the ads had minimal reach, many were disabled before WIRED shared them. They added that many of the ads predated new AI tools the company launched to detect and block violating ads at upload. But according to Paul, the ads included some identical to those Meta had previously removed for policy violations.

"This raises significant questions about how seriously Meta is taking child exploitation in paid advertisements if its own systems can identify identical ads but it does not remove those identical ads for CSAM material," she said. The findings come as Meta prepares to stand trial in New Mexico over allegations that it failed to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms, according to public records reviewed by WIRED ^[2].

Broader Context of Nudify Apps and Prior Reports

In early July, a BBC investigation found that Instagram had been running paid advertisements that promoted the sale of child sexual abuse material in India, with ads using terms including "rape video" and linking to Telegram channels where the content could be purchased ^[3]. Days later, the Indian government directed Meta to immediately disable advertisements and content that promote or facilitate CSAM, according to a senior official ^[4].

Several of the ads found by TTP linked to an app called MaskAI, which appeared in Apple's App Store, according to a WIRED review. The app contained AI-generated pornography and allowed users to upload images and face-swap people into sexual situations. Apple removed the app after WIRED contacted the company, an Apple spokesperson said.

TTP reported its findings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's (NCMEC) CyberTipline, according to Paul. An NCMEC spokesperson said the organization does not comment on reports it receives.

AI-generated CSAM is illegal in countries around the world. In South Korea, a man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for using AI to create 360 images of child pornography, according to a Trends Journal report ^[5].

Experts flag ongoing enforcement failures

Alexios Mantzarlis, cofounder of digital deception publication Indicator and a former trust and safety worker at Google, said he has found and reported more than 25,000 ads for AI nudifiers on Meta's platforms in recent years. "The actors on the other side are clearly well-equipped to create new advertiser accounts and new domains so that they can keep going, leveraging the same techniques used by scam networks," he told WIRED.

Image-based sexual abuse has become "a permanent fixture of our online ecosystem because of timid enforcement from platforms across the stack," Mantzarlis added. A spokesperson for the Revenge Porn Helpline said nudify apps "present a genuinely adversarial problem, not just because of who’s behind them, but because of how quickly this ecosystem adapts around any single point of enforcement."

According to the researchers, many of the offending ads were published after WIRED first asked Meta about the content, with several ads live and being shown to accounts at the time researchers found them. The broader AI-generated abuse landscape has prompted regulatory scrutiny, including EU investigations into X's Grok chatbot after reports that it produced sexualized images of real people, including children ^[6], and a U.K. threat to ban X over similar concerns ^[7].

Democratic senators have also asked major technology companies to detail how they identify and remove AI-altered sexual content, including material depicting minors ^[8]. Researchers have warned that AI can produce deceptive content at a speed and scale not previously seen, according to a Trends Journal report ^[9].

References

1. NaturalNews.com. "Apps and websites using AI to digitally undress women are soaring in popularity". NaturalNews.com. December 13, 2023.
2. TechCrunch. "Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case". January 22, 2026.
3. BBC News. "Instagram running ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India, BBC finds". July 3, 2026.
4. BBC News. "India orders Meta to remove ads promoting child sexual abuse". July 6, 2026.
5. Trends-Journal-2023-10-41.
6. RT. "Elon Musk's X facing new EU probes". February 17, 2026.
7. Belle Carter. "U.K. Threatens Ban on Elon Musk's X over AI-Generated Deepfake Abuse". NaturalNews.com. January 11, 2026.
8. NaturalNews.com. "Democratic senators push tech firms to crack down on 'non-nude sexualized' AI content". January 18, 2026.
9. Trends-Journal-2023-05-20.

Explainer Infographic