New Delhi: Meta Platforms could be in fresh trouble, as Facebook and Instagram ran thousands of advertisements for AI ‘nudify’ apps in recent months. The ads were delivered by one of Meta’s advertising partners in China and violated the company’s policies, according to the non-profit Tech Transparency Project.
“One of Meta’s key business partners in China is behind a vast network of Facebook and Instagram ads promoting ‘nudify’ apps,” TTP said in its report, citing Meta’s own transparency database.
‘Nudify’ or ‘nudification’ apps use AI to generate sexually explicit images of people, mostly women. They superimpose faces of real people on naked bodies, creating deepfake images and videos. Such apps have raised concerns over non-conseual deepfake pornography.
Meta has about a dozen ad agencies in China that help clients run ads on Instagram and Facebook, which are banned in the country. An investigation by TTP found that GatherOne, one of Meta’s advertising partners, was behind thousands of Meta ads that promoted apps used for undressing women digitally.
These ads contained explicit content and showed women simulating sexual acts. TTP traced 7,600 such ads to 43 Facebook pages that mentioned GatherOne/Hongkong Gather Wisdom in their ad disclosures.
Also read: Dhruv Rathee has an AI course. He is using ‘Sheru the tiger’ to sell it
Violating Meta’s policy
To establish a link between the ads and GatherOne, TTP used the disclosures in the Meta Ad Library. During the investigation, the report said, Meta removed many such ads and disabled accounts behind them for violating its standards. Yet many accounts in the network promoting ‘nudify’ apps continued to operate.
“TTP’s findings suggest that Meta is tolerating policy violations by one of its principal partners in the lucrative Chinese market. The findings also highlight Meta’s role in the spread of nudify apps that can be used to create nonconsensual sexualized images, contributing to exploitation and psychological harm,” the report said.
According to Meta’s policy, it does not allow “promoting, threatening to share or offering to make non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) or kissing imagery through applications or services (including AI), or instructions, even if there is no commercial or non-commercial imagery shared in the content (sometimes referred to as “nudify” apps or “AI kissing” apps).”
In response to the report, Cindy Southworth, Meta’s Head of Women’s Safety Policy, told Bloomberg that Meta does not allow “non-consensual intimate imagery or nudify apps” on its platform and that “aggressive steps” are being taken to combat them.
GatherOne, meanwhile, told TTP that it has suspended new account applications linked to face swap, AI nudify, and girlfriend services.