Today, a Tech Transparency Project investigation revealed Meta approved and ran more than 330 paid ads containing child sexual abuse material — including ads promoting apps built to “nudify” images of children — with some ads still running as recently as September 4. The ads contained both images of real children and AI-manipulated images.
Julianna Arnold, executive director of survivor parent-led advocacy organization ParentsRise, said in a statement:
“This is not a new or isolated failure. Meta has a persistent, well-documented problem with child sexual abuse material in its paid and supposedly vetted advertising system. These were not user posts that slipped past moderators. According to the report, this was paid content that Meta’s own systems reviewed and approved, collecting ad revenue while it ran. Meta told the press in August that new detection technology had been deployed. Despite that, ads for “nudifying” apps aimed at children ran for weeks. A company with Meta’s resources allowing that is appalling and inexcusable.
Meta has recently touted legal settlements as proof the company now takes child safety seriously. This report is yet another piece of evidence against that narrative. A settlement is not safety. A settlement is not accountability. A company still approving ads for sexual child abuse material in exchange for cash cannot credibly claim it has fixed the negligent design that caused this harm in the first place. Meta says it cares about protecting children while its ad systems continue to profit from their exploitation. That is not change, that is “business as usual,” and our children are paying for it with their safety, and in some cases, their lives.
Knowingly profiting from advertising built on child sexual abuse material is not a policy failure to be managed with a press statement. It is criminal behavior, and it deserves a criminal response. We are calling on Senator Grassley to compel Mark Zuckerberg to testify under oath about what Meta knew, when it knew it, and on the Department of Justice to get involved if necessary to force Mr. Zuckerberg to answer directly for his company’s conduct.
Our children were not collateral damage. They were the product. We will not stop pushing until there is real accountability, not another apology tour.”