Meta ran more than 50 paid advertisements containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and sexually suggestive images of minors across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, according to findings published in August 2026 by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), an independent watchdog group.
The ads were discovered by TTP researchers in Meta’s own ad transparency library, which catalogs paid promotions running across the company’s platforms. The offending ads were published between November 2025 and early August 2026, with some running as recently as the week the story was reported. Several ads ran for multiple days and some were targeted exclusively at men. At least one ad reached 2,563 accounts across Europe, including in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The ads also targeted users in the United States and more than a dozen other European countries, though Meta’s library does not provide reach data for all regions, meaning total exposure may be higher.
Among the ads described by TTP researchers: one video used a thumbnail image of a child with text reading “Realizing Deep Fantasies with Generation AI,” and when clicked, played adult sexual content before superimposing the child’s face onto a sex act. Another repeatedly posted ad showed a young girl in a sexual position with the text “I can show you more.” Several ads linked to so-called nudify or undressing apps.
“These ads made no effort to mask the images or hide what they were promoting,” said Katie Paul, TTP’s director. “These are ads that were reviewed, approved, and allowed to run by Meta, never encountering interference while the company collected the ad dollars.”
TTP reported the findings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline before contacting WIRED. Meta removed the ads after WIRED reached out. “Sexual exploitation is horrific, and we work aggressively to keep it off our platform,” a Meta spokesperson said, adding that many ads had minimal reach and that some were disabled before WIRED’s inquiry. The spokesperson also noted that some ads predated recently launched AI detection technology and pointed to the removal of over 36 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content in the prior year.
The discovery marks the second time in recent weeks that paid ads linked to child sexual abuse material have been identified on Meta’s platforms.
Source: WIRED