{"slug": "facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women", "title": "Facebook, Instagram Ran Thousands of Ads for AI Apps That Digitally Undress Women, Simulate Sex Acts", "summary": "Meta Platforms approved thousands of adverts for AI apps that digitally undress women and generate explicit sexual imagery on Facebook and Instagram, according to an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). The ads, traced to GatherOne, one of Meta's authorized advertising partners in China, included roughly 7,600 promoting 'nudify' applications, with 85% of 210 related Facebook pages later having ads removed for violating policies on adult sexual content and exploitation. Meta said it removed the ads and banned the app BAfter after reviewing the findings.", "body_md": "# Facebook, Instagram Ran Thousands of Ads for AI Apps That Digitally Undress Women, Simulate Sex Acts\n\n## Investigation links prohibited AI image ads to a Chinese Meta advertising partner.\n\nMeta Platforms approved thousands of adverts for artificial intelligence apps that digitally undress women and generate explicit sexual imagery on Facebook and Instagram, despite its own ban on such content, according to an investigation published on Saturday.\n\nThe Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a Washington-based non-profit that monitors major technology firms, said the adverts were traced to GatherOne, one of Meta's authorised advertising partners in China.\n\nThe findings raise questions over how prohibited AI-generated sexual material continued to appear on Meta's platforms via a partner with preferred access to its advertising network.\n\n## Meta's Advertising System Carried Thousands of Prohibited AI Ads\n\nTTP identified roughly 7,600 adverts promoting AI 'nudify' applications capable of removing clothing from photographs or placing people's faces onto nude or pornographic bodies and videos.\n\nResearchers linked the campaigns to 43 Facebook pages connected to GatherOne. The adverts promoted applications offering features such as digital undressing, AI-generated intimate imagery and face-swapping tools.\n\nMeta's advertising standards prohibit adverts promoting adult sexual exploitation, non-consensual intimate imagery and nudify services. Many of the adverts documented by researchers remained active before they were later removed.\n\n## Investigation Expanded Beyond Individual Apps\n\nAs researchers broadened their review, they identified a wider network of 210 Facebook pages connected to GatherOne that collectively ran about 30,800 adverts promoting AI image-generation and face-swap tools.\n\nAccording to TTP, about 85 per cent of those pages later had adverts removed after Meta found they violated company policies on adult sexual content and exploitation.\n\nThe findings indicate that prohibited AI-generated sexual content continued to circulate through multiple advertising accounts rather than through isolated campaigns.\n\n## One App Prompted Child Abuse Complaints\n\nAmong the applications highlighted in the investigation was BAfter, which advertised features including 'One-Click Undress' and subscription services providing access to additional AI-generated imagery.\n\nResearchers said the application included a public gallery where users shared AI-generated images. Reviews posted on Google's Play Store said some user-generated content appeared to depict children in sexually explicit images.\n\nOne reviewer highlighted what they described as 'ILLEGAL CHILD PORN' inside the application.\n\nThe app stayed on Google Play with an 'Everyone' age rating until shortly before publication of the investigation.\n\nMeta later confirmed it had banned BAfter from its advertising platform.\n\n## GatherOne Held Preferred Meta Partner Status\n\nThe investigation also focused on GatherOne's position within Meta's advertising business.\n\nGatherOne, based in Beijing and Hong Kong, is one of a small group of Chinese advertising agencies authorised by Meta to help businesses in China reach international users through Facebook and Instagram.\n\nAccording to TTP, the company manages more than 30,000 adverts each month and received four performance awards during Meta's 2026 Agent Summit in Hong Kong.\n\nGatherOne said it has suspended new advertising accounts promoting nudify applications, face-swap services and AI companion products while it strengthens its compliance procedures.\n\n[AI Deepfake Enforcement Faces Growing Scrutiny](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xai-sues-user-ai-generated-child-abuse-material-1808999)\n\nMeta said advertisers that breach its advertising policies risk campaign removal, financial penalties and permanent account suspension. The company said it had removed the adverts identified in the investigation and banned BAfter after reviewing the findings.\n\nThe investigation comes as governments increase scrutiny of AI-generated intimate imagery and deepfake abuse. The US Take It Down Act, which criminalises publication of non-consensual intimate images, came into force earlier this year.\n\nThe findings add to scrutiny of how major technology companies enforce advertising policies as AI-generated sexual content becomes more widely available and harder to moderate at scale.\n\n© Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women", "canonical_source": "https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meta-ai-generated-sexual-content-ads-controversy-1810885", "published_at": "2026-07-27 21:00:04+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-27 21:10:29.349167+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-ethics", "ai-policy", "generative-ai", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Meta Platforms", "Tech Transparency Project", "GatherOne", "Facebook", "Instagram", "BAfter", "Google Play"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/facebook-instagram-ran-thousands-of-ads-for-ai-apps-that-digitally-undress-women.jsonld"}}