Meta continued to run hundreds of paid advertisements featuring artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material across Facebook and Instagram over a ten-month period, according to a report published by the Washington-based Tech Transparency Project. The findings reveal that 332 ads containing child sexual abuse material appeared on the platforms, with the vast majority—274 advertisements—published in August alone.
Global Distribution and Impact on India
The research initiative, a project of the non-profit Campaign for Accountability, found that roughly a quarter of the offending material—84 ads—targeted users in India. This distribution persisted despite an explicit directive issued by the Indian government two months prior, which ordered Meta to remove all advertisements and content promoting child sexual abuse material on Instagram following an earlier BBC Eye investigation.
Out of the total ads detected in India, 78 were published after the Indian government’s removal order and subsequent meetings with senior Meta officials. According to the Tech Transparency Project, almost all of the identified advertisements began with a photograph of a child. As the video played, artificial intelligence tools altered the imagery to depict the subjects engaging in graphic sexual acts.
One advertisement circulating in India featured a preteen girl animated to perform a graphic sexual act, accompanied by a voiceover stating that there are no restrictions and that all characters are real people. The Tech Transparency Project noted that this specific ad was posted by more than 50 different handles across a two-week span in August.
Legal Actions and Institutional Responses
The persistence of the material has triggered formal legal challenges and investigations within India. Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of Just Rights for Children, filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India citing the findings of the investigations. The petition calls for mandatory reporting requirements and identification of those promoting child sexual abuse material on social media platforms.
“Social media companies are clearly flouting Indian laws by not reporting child sexual abuse content to Indian law enforcement agencies as mandated by our child protection laws,” said Bhuwan Ribhu.
In addition to the Supreme Court petition, several Indian agencies, including the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Human Rights Commission, stated that they are examining the matter. The distribution of child sexual abuse material constitutes a criminal offense under Indian law, and Meta’s internal advertising policies explicitly prohibit content that sexually exploits or endangers children.
Platform Enforcement and Reporting Protocols
The Tech Transparency Project stated that it reported all 332 identified advertisements to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a United States-based centralized global reporting system for online child sexual exploitation. The researchers also noted that more than a dozen ads continued to appear on Meta platforms even after the company had been directly notified of the findings.
In response to inquiries regarding the findings, Meta issued a statement maintaining that it does not tolerate nudify apps or any form of child exploitation, whether real or generated by artificial intelligence. “These criminals constantly shift tactics to evade detection, which is why we keep strengthening our detection and enforcement,” the company stated.
Meta further noted that when the corporation becomes aware of apparent child exploitation, it submits reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in compliance with legal obligations. In July, following the initial BBC investigation, Meta published a detailed explanatory post on its website outlining its operational procedures for combating child exploitation across its applications.
