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Meta Platforms allowed over 300 paid ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material to run on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads in 2025-2026. The ads, often promoting deepfake 'nudify' apps, reached over 29,000 users globally. Meta's automated ad-review system failed to block this illegal content, causing significant harm to children.[AI generated]
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event clearly involves AI systems generating manipulated child sexual abuse imagery, which is then used in paid advertisements on Meta's platforms. The harm is realized and ongoing, involving the sexual exploitation of children, a serious violation of human rights and criminal law. The AI system's role is pivotal as it generates the abusive content that is being promoted and disseminated. The failure of Meta's automated moderation to detect and remove these ads in a timely manner further implicates the AI system's malfunction or inadequacy in preventing harm. Therefore, this event meets the criteria for an AI Incident due to direct harm caused by the AI-generated content and its distribution.[AI generated]