In 2024, Meta facilitated the appearance of over 3,300 pornographic ads on its social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, many of which featured AI-generated content.
This alarming revelation comes from a recent report by AI Forensics, a European organization that investigates the algorithms of tech platforms. The research highlighted inconsistencies in Meta’s content moderation policies, as many explicit images re-uploaded as standard posts were promptly removed for violating community standards, despite being permissible when advertised.
“This report is disappointing yet unsurprising, given prior indications of double standards in content moderation, especially regarding sexual content,” remarked Carolina Are from a UK digital research center.
The AI Forensics investigation concentrated on a specific sample of ads targeted at the European Union. It revealed that the explicit advertisements primarily aimed at middle-aged and older men promoted questionable sexual enhancement products and hookup dating sites, collectively capturing over 8.2 million impressions.
This leniency highlights a wider double standard in content moderation, according to Are, particularly impacting content directed toward women and LGBTQIA+ individuals. She illustrated this double standard with examples such as the removal of lingerie and menstrual product ads, while advertisements for Viagra continued to circulate.
Moreover, the AI Forensics team uncovered the use of audio deepfakes in some advertisements for sexual enhancement products, where pornographic visuals were accompanied by digitally manipulated audio of actor Vincent Cassel.
In response to these findings, a Meta spokesperson stated, “We prohibit the display of nudity or sexual activity in ads and organic posts on our platforms, and we are actively removing the violating content reported to us. Bad actors continuously adapt their strategies to evade enforcement, which is why we invest in advanced tools and technology to identify and eliminate such content.”
This report arrives amidst announcements from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding the termination of fact-checking teams in favor of crowdsourced community notes.
Given Zuckerberg’s recent decision to eliminate fact-checkers, Are expressed a warning about the implications, suggesting that Meta may prioritize revenue from questionable ads over protecting marginalized users’ voices.
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