One of the most notable examples involved a Facebook page called “Divine Productions,” which claimed to represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The page reportedly ran advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) without Meta detecting them. Meta disabled the page only after the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) reported it.
TTP director Katie Paul told Wired that Meta’s delayed response is concerning because the platform could cause significant harm while continuing to raise advertising revenue. Although Meta did not disclose the reach of each advertisement by region, TTP reported that the ads reached more than 29,000 people overall, including approximately 6,800 users in England. About 80 percent of the advertisements were shown in the United States, with others reaching users in Australia, according to TTP.
Mehta did not respond to Ars’ request for comment. A Meta spokesperson told Wired, “We do not condone nudity apps or child exploitation of any kind, whether real or AI-generated.” However, some advertisements reportedly avoided detection because images or videos involving minors were brief or blurred. Meta also appeared to downplay the financial impact, stating that flagged advertisements generated fewer than 200 impressions on average and that total spending was below $5,000.
TTP alleged that Meta may be undercounting the number of CSAM advertisements, potentially meaning the company earned more advertising revenue than it has acknowledged. The report comes as lawmakers and regulators increase scrutiny of online platforms. The attorneys general of Michigan and Florida said they were investigating the advertisements. Last month, after Wired published an earlier report in August, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent a letter to Mehta demanding that Meta “stop its illegal and inappropriate advertising.”
A Meta spokesperson told Wired that the company plans to respond to Warner’s letter. Meta may also face questions from Australia’s eSafety regulator, which recently prohibited children under 16 from using social media platforms. An eSafety spokesperson said Australian officials were concerned about the allegations and had asked senior executives at the companies involved to provide information.
“AI apps have made it far easier to create realistic images depicting child sexual abuse, creating new risks for children to be photographed and transformed into sexual content,” Emma Hardy, communications director at the Internet Watch Foundation, told Wired.
“Platforms and companies need to make sure there is no place for these apps to be promoted or spread,” Hardy said.
Source: arstechnica.com