Meta started promoting AI on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp – so much so that you cannot disable Meta AI. It turns out that the tech giant's own features aren't the only ones proliferating on Meta platforms. Explicit ads for AI “friends” populate Facebook and Instagram, Wired reported.
Searches by Wired found that at least 29,000 ads for explicit AI “girlfriends” were posted on Meta platforms, most with sex-related messages; at least 19,000 ads include the term “NSFW” and 14,000 “NSFW AI”. Wired searched Meta's ad library, which can display all ads currently on its platforms; all ads shown in the EU in the last year; and ads from the past seven years related to elections, politics or social issues.
These explicit advertisements appear to violate Meta Adult Content Advertising Policywhich prohibits advertisers from serving ads “containing adult content, such as nudity and depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or overly suggestive or sexually provocative activities.” Facebook and Instagram Community Rules ban nudity and anything the platform considers to be “offering sexual services”. These platforms also ban sexual language in cases of sexual solicitation (or perceived solicitation), even “generally sexual emojis”.
For years, sex workers – but also sex educators, LGBTQ users, erotic artists, etc. – said Meta was unfairly targeting their content and accounts due to these policies. These users told Mashable that they feared being targeted under Meta Community Guidelines; Instagram shadowbans LGBTQ and sex educator accounts; and that Whatsapp bans sex worker accounts. In an experiment conducted by sexual wellness brand Unbound last fall, Meta repeatedly rejected sex toy ads intended for women, while approving those intended for men. Last November, Mashable reported that Meta Reportedly Rejected Menstrual Care Ad to be an adult or a politician.
Crushable speed of light
Yet these NSFW AI “girlfriend” ads seem to slip through. Wired's report is not the first example of announcements for explicit AI applications appearing on Meta: Deepfake ads featuring Jenna Ortega and other celebrities also ran on Meta platforms.
When Wired I contacted Meta about this, 2,700 AI “girlfriend” ads were active. Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels said Wired that the company prohibits such advertisements, that it is reviewing them, and that it will remove those that violate its policies. “When we identify infringing ads, we work quickly to remove them, as we do here,” he said. Wired. “We continue to improve our systems, including how we detect ads and behavior that violate our policies.”
Yet the publication found that thousands of these ads were still active days later.
Mashable has contacted Meta for comment.
The subjects
Artificial intelligence
Meta