Meta permitted pornographic advertisements that breach content moderation standards

In 2024, Meta allowed more than 3,300 pornographic ads, many featuring AI-generated content, to run on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

The survey results are available below. report by AI forensics a European non-profit organization focused on researching technology platform algorithms. Researchers also found inconsistencies in Meta’s content moderation policies by reuploading many of the same explicit images as standard Instagram and Facebook posts. Unlike ads, these posts violated Meta’s terms and were quickly removed. community standards.

“I am disappointed and not surprised by this report, as my research has already revealed double standards in content moderation, particularly in the area of sexual content,” he said. carolina are At the Center for Digital Citizenship at Northumbria University, UK.

The AI Forensics report focuses on a small sample of ads targeting the European Union. As a result, the explicit meta-authorized ads primarily target middle-aged and older men promoting “shady sexual enhancement products” and “dating sites,” with a total reach of 8.2 million impressions. It turned out that it was exceeded.

This permissiveness reflects a widespread double standard in content moderation, Allais said. She says tech platforms often block content by “women, femme presentations, and LGBTQIA+ users.” That double standard extends to the sexual health of men and women. “Examples include lingerie and period-related advertising. [removed] Ads from Meta are approved, but ads for Viagra are approved,” she says.

In addition to discovering AI-generated images within ads, the AI Forensics team also discovered audio deepfakes. For example, some ads for sex-enhancing drugs featured the digitally manipulated voice of actor Vincent Cassel superimposed over pornographic visuals.

“Meta prohibits the display of nudity or sexual activity in ads or organic posts on our platform, and we remove violating content shared with us,” a Meta spokesperson said. “Bad actors are constantly evolving their tactics to evade law enforcement, which is why we continue to invest in the best tools and technology to identify and remove violating content.”

The report comes at the same time that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he would be eliminating the fact-checking team in favor of crowd-sourced community notes.

“If you really want to sound dystopian, which I think there’s reason to do so at this point given Zuckerberg’s latest decision to eliminate fact checkers, Meta You could even say that they’re quickly stripping agencies of their users by taking money from questionable ads,” Allais said.