Meta ran ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material, researchers find
Researchers found more than 50 paid ads on Meta’s platforms featuring AI-generated child sexual abuse material. The ads, which reached thousands of accounts, were removed after Wired published its report.
More than 50 paid advertisements that violated Meta’s policies on child sexual abuse material have been identified by researchers at the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). The ads, which appeared on Facebook, Threads, Messenger and Instagram, featured AI-generated images of children alongside sexually suggestive text and other offensive content. According to Wired, the ads reached thousands of accounts before being taken down.
TTP researchers discovered the ads in Meta’s ad library, a public tool that indexes advertising across the company’s platforms. The ads were posted between November 2025 and August 2026, and several linked to "nudify" or undressing apps. Katie Paul, TTP’s director, told Wired that the ads made no effort to hide what they were promoting. She also stressed that these were not third-party posts on Facebook or Instagram, but ads that Meta reviewed, approved and allowed to run while collecting ad revenue.
Meta’s advertising rules specifically ban content that sexually exploits or endangers children, and the company says it reports such material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The company relies on automated tools as part of its ad review process, which may explain how the ads slipped through.
In a statement to Wired, Meta called sexual exploitation horrific and said it works aggressively to prevent it. The company said most of the ads had minimal reach and many were disabled before Wired shared them. Meta also noted that many of the ads predate new AI technology launched recently to better detect and block violating ads at upload, and said it removed more than 36 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content last year and has taken legal action against nudify app developers.
This is the latest in a series of ad-related issues for Meta. In July, the BBC reported that Instagram ran ads advertising child sexual abuse material in India. In April 2026, the Consumer Federation of America sued Meta over scam ads on its platforms, which are also prohibited by the company’s ad standards.
