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Meta is facing renewed scrutiny after the Tech Transparency Project reported that more than 7,500 ads for AI-powered “nudify” services appeared on Facebook and Instagram, despite platform rules banning sexually exploitative content. The ads promoted tools that digitally remove clothing from images of women, raising concerns about AI-enabled sexual abuse and failures in ad moderation across Meta’s platforms.
The report said the ad surge was tied to GatherOne, a Chinese advertising partner that may spend more than $70 million annually on Meta ads. Researchers also said one promoted app had previously been linked to child sexual abuse material. Meta said it takes aggressive action against nudify apps and can remove ads, impose financial penalties, or suspend advertiser accounts, but the findings are likely to intensify regulatory and public pressure over how the company handles abusive AI content and high-spending advertisers.
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The Tech Transparency Project found more than 50 paid ads in Meta’s ad library containing explicit AI-generated child sexual abuse material or sexualized images of minors, some linked to nudify apps and shown across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads. After the findings were reported to NCMEC and WIRED contacted Meta, the company removed the ads and said it was improving detection and enforcement.
The Tech Transparency Project reported that Chinese advertising partner GatherOne placed more than 7,500 AI-powered "nudify" ads on Facebook and Instagram despite Meta policies prohibiting sexually exploitative content. The report also said one promoted app had previously been linked to child sexual abuse material and alleged Meta had removed many ads while continuing to do business with GatherOne.
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Meta disclosed a set of new **platform safety and enforcement actions** aimed at reducing harm and abuse on its services. The company filed multiple lawsuits against alleged scam-ad operators in **Brazil, China, Vietnam** and elsewhere, describing tactics including **deepfakes/celebrity impersonation**, “celeb-bait” investment lures, and **cloaking** used to evade ad review; Meta said it also took technical steps such as disabling accounts, suspending scam-linked payment methods, and blocking associated domains, and shared information with industry partners to help them block the same actors. Separately, Meta announced new **Instagram parental-supervision alerts** that notify parents when a teen repeatedly searches for **self-harm or suicide-related terms** within a short time window (initially for supervised accounts in the **U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada**), and said it is developing similar notifications for teens’ **AI-related conversations** about self-harm. In parallel regulatory developments, EU lawmakers advanced a non-binding opinion supporting **privacy-friendly age verification** and proposing restrictions that would require **parental consent for under-16s** and bar access for children under 13, positioning these measures for potential inclusion in a future **Digital Fairness Act** focused on child protection online, targeted advertising, and addictive design patterns.
Jun 29, 2026
Meta announced new anti-scam protections across **Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp** as it faces growing scrutiny over fraud on its platforms. The company said its AI systems now analyze **text, images, and contextual signals** to detect celebrity and brand impersonation, deceptive links, domain spoofing, and other social-engineering tactics. New measures include Facebook warnings for suspicious friend requests, WhatsApp alerts for risky device-linking attempts involving QR codes or phone-number entry, and expanded Messenger scam detection that can, with user consent, review recent chats for fraud indicators. Meta also detailed privacy-focused link protection in Messenger through **Advanced Browsing Protection**, which checks shared URLs against a large malicious-site watchlist without exposing readable links to Meta. The product rollout follows a broader crackdown on industrialized scam operations, including joint action with the **Royal Thai Police**, **FBI**, **UK National Crime Agency**, and **Australian Federal Police** that led to **21 arrests** and the disabling of more than **150,000 accounts** tied to Southeast Asian scam compounds. Meta said it removed **159 million scam ads in 2025** and took down about **10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts** linked to criminal scam centers, while shifting from deleting individual accounts to disrupting entire networks. The push comes as researchers separately documented a large malvertising operation using **300+ paid Meta ad campaigns** to impersonate news outlets and public figures, lure victims to spoofed sites, harvest contact details, and funnel them into call-center-run investment scams across at least **25 countries**.
Jun 29, 2026
Reuters uncovered internal Meta documents revealing that the company projected $16 billion in 2024 revenue from advertisements linked to scams and banned goods, accounting for approximately 10% of its total revenue. Meta's safety staff estimated that its platforms were involved in a third of all successful scams in the United States, though some of this involvement may be due to the use of WhatsApp for communication rather than direct ad placement. The documents also showed that Meta only bans advertisers if automated systems are 95% certain of fraud; otherwise, the company imposes higher ad rates as a penalty, potentially incentivizing the acceptance of high-risk ads. Meta's management reportedly weighed the financial benefits of scam ads against potential regulatory costs, with $3.5 billion in revenue every six months coming from ads deemed to have "higher legal risk," such as those impersonating brands or celebrities. The company was willing to forgo only a small fraction of its revenue—about $135 million—to clamp down on suspicious advertisers, suggesting a calculated approach to balancing profit and compliance risk. These revelations have raised significant concerns about Meta's role in facilitating online scams and its internal decision-making regarding fraudulent advertising.
Jun 29, 2026