San Francisco’s city attorney has ordered Meta to stop allowing paid advertisements containing AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery and explain how the material repeatedly passed its review systems. The cease-and-desist letter follows findings that the problem continued after Meta had already been alerted.
Researchers at the Tech Transparency Project identified more than 350 ads in recent months that manipulated still images of minors into abusive synthetic videos. Some images depicted confirmed real people, including a member of a European royal family. Clicking the ads directed users toward AI image and video applications, including services capable of creating nonconsensual intimate imagery.
Repeated Ads Exposed a Moderation Failure
Some identical ads were uploaded multiple times. The researchers found that the campaigns reached more than 29,000 accounts in the European Union and also targeted users in the United States, Australia and India. WIRED first reported 53 ads in early August, yet more than 250 of the total ran after that report.
City attorney David Chiu argues that the scale and persistence point to more than an isolated error. His letter asks Meta’s legal, child-safety and advertising teams to enter prompt discussions with his office. It also demands an explanation of how the ads avoided moderation, how the company handles repeat advertisers and how suspected abuse is escalated and reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Tech Transparency Project researchers said some reports remained unanswered for more than a week while the ads accumulated additional views. In some cases, removed ads were initially not classified as child sexual abuse content, according to the organization and WIRED’s review of Meta’s ad library. The city has requested a response within 28 days.
Meta Disputes the City’s Jurisdiction
Meta says there is no indication that the ads were displayed in San Francisco and argues that the matter therefore falls outside the city attorney’s jurisdiction. Its public ad library includes some US distribution data but does not show where within the country an advertisement appeared.
The city attorney’s office rejects that position. A spokesperson told WIRED that San Francisco consumers can access unlawful ads through Meta’s online services, giving the city a basis to intervene. The source does not resolve that legal disagreement, and the cease-and-desist letter is a demand rather than a court ruling.
Meta previously said many of the identified ads had been removed before researchers reported them and that all have now been taken down for policy violations. It said most received fewer than 200 impressions and that total spending across the 300-plus ads was below $5,000. Low spending and limited reach per ad do not answer how repeated submissions kept passing review.
Written Policies Need Reliable Enforcement
Meta’s community and advertising standards prohibit child sexual exploitation, nudity and promotion of “nudify” applications. The company says all advertisements are checked using automated review and sometimes human review. It has removed hundreds of thousands of ads promoting such apps and has sued a Hong Kong company linked to one group of services.
Those actions demonstrate enforcement capacity, while the newly documented campaigns expose gaps. Researchers continued to find thousands of ads directing users to harmful apps, and the Tech Transparency Project said new ads involving some of the same children appeared even after its September 8 report. Meta did not immediately answer WIRED’s question about those newer examples.
The verified issue is not merely that prohibited material appeared. It is that paid distribution, repeated uploads and slow responses allowed abusive synthetic content to persist after warnings. San Francisco’s action now puts specific questions before Meta: which controls failed, what happens to repeat offenders and whether the company can prevent the same images from returning. Its response will show whether removal after discovery can become prevention before distribution.
