Meta has social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram
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In 2024, Meta accepted more than 3,300 pornographic ads (many containing AI-generated content) on its social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Findings a the report according to AI Forensicsa European non-profit organization dedicated to researching technological platform algorithms. The researchers also found an inconsistency in Meta’s content moderation policies by re-uploading many explicit images that are available as standard posts on Instagram and Facebook. Unlike the ads, those posts were quickly removed for Meta violations Community Rules.
“I am disappointed and not surprised by the report, as my research has revealed double standards in content moderation, particularly in the area of sexual content,” he says. Carolina Are At Northumbria University’s UK Center for Digital Citizens.
The AI Forensics report focused on a small sample of ads targeting the European Union. They found that the explicit ads permitted by Meta primarily targeted middle-aged and older men, with promotions for “dubious sexual enhancement products” and “relationship dating sites,” reaching a total of more than 8.2 million impressions.
This permissiveness reflects a broader double standard in content moderation, says Are. Tech platforms often block content “by women, women-presented and LGBTQIA+ users”. This double standard extends to male and female sexual health. “An example is lingerie and period-related ads (removed) from Meta, while ads for Viagra are allowed,” he says.
In addition to finding AI-generated images in the ads, the AI Forensics team also found audio deepfakes: in some ads for sex-enhancement drugs, for example, pornographic visuals were overlaid with the digitally manipulated voice of actor Vincent Cassel.
“Meta prohibits the display of nudity or sexual activity in ads or organic posts on our platforms, and we are removing the offending content that was shared with us,” says a Meta spokesperson. “Bad actors are constantly evolving their tactics to avoid enforcement, which is why we continue to invest in the best tools and technology to help identify and remove infringing content.”
The report is in line with what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company will be removing its fact-checking teams in favor of crowdsourced community notes.
“If we want to sound really dystopian – and given Zuckerberg’s recent decision to remove verifiers, I think we’re right at this stage – we could also say that the individual, marginalized Meta user is being stripped of their agency as quickly as it is to take money from dubious ads,” says Are.
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