Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and other popular platforms, has been running and hosting ads that feature AI-generated child sexual abuse material, according to a new report. The ads, which were discovered by researchers with the Tech Transparency Project, reportedly reached thousands of accounts and ran across Facebook, Threads, Messenger, and Instagram.
Violating Company Policies
Researchers identified more than 50 ads that violated Meta’s policies on child sexual abuse material. The ads, which featured images of children with sexually suggestive text and other offensive content, were posted between November 2025 and August 2026. Several of these ads linked out to “nudify” or undressing apps.
“These ads made no effort to mask the images or hide what they were promoting,” TTP Director Katie Paul told Wired. “It’s essential to note that this isn’t content posted by third parties on Facebook or Instagram, these are ads that were reviewed, approved, and allowed to run by Meta, never encountering interference while the company collected the ad dollars.”
Advertising Standards
Meta’s advertising standards specifically forbid ads that “contain content that sexually exploits or endangers children.” The company reports any offensive material it finds to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Ads with sexually explicit adult content are similarly banned from Meta’s ad system.
The company catches offenders by reviewing each ad before it’s published, but it relies on “automated tools” as part of the process, which may have been how the ads TTP discovered made it through. This highlights the potential flaws in Meta’s ad review process, which may allow some offending ads to slip through, including those using AI models to generate content.
Response from Meta
“Sexual exploitation is horrific, and we work aggressively to keep it off our platform,” Meta said in a statement. “The majority of these ads had minimal reach and many were disabled before WIRED shared them. Many of these ads also predate new AI technology we launched recently to better detect and block violating ads at upload — and we’re constantly improving these systems.”
Related: Google-Backed FireSat Satellite Launched to Monitor Wildfires
From removing over 36 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content last year to taking legal action against nudify app developers, Meta claims it will continue to fight this abuse. However, this collection of CSAM-related ads is only the latest advertising issue Meta has had to deal with in the last few months.
It’s essential to acknowledge the harm caused by these ads.
The company’s efforts to remove offending content and improve its ad review process are steps in the right direction, but more needs to be done to prevent such incidents in the future. They have been asked to comment on the report, and the company may provide more information on its efforts to address this issue.
In April 2026, the Consumer Federation of America also sued Meta for failing to deal with scam ads on its platforms, which are similarly forbidden by the company’s ad standards. These incidents suggest that Meta still has a long way to go in ensuring that its ad system is safe and free from offending content.
Meta will face increased scrutiny over its ad review process and its ability to keep offending content off its platforms as the situation develops.
