San Francisco Orders Meta to Stop AI Child Abuse Ad Placements

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Meta demanding the company stop allowing advertisements containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material on its platforms and explain how such content repeatedly evaded its moderation systems.

The action follows research showing Meta ran more than 350 ads in recent months that transformed still images of minors—including confirmed real individuals—into video clips depicting sexual acts. The ads directed users to AI image and video generation apps, some designed to digitally undress people or create nonconsensual intimate imagery.

Scale and persistence of the problem

Researchers at the Tech Transparency Project discovered the ads running across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, reaching more than 29,000 accounts in European Union countries, as well as users in the United States, Australia, and India. According to details first reported by WIRED, more than 250 of the total ads ran after an initial batch of 53 was reported in early August.

Some identical ads were uploaded multiple times to Meta's platforms. The company acknowledged the ads violated its policies and has since removed them, stating the total ad spend was under $5,000 and most ads received fewer than 200 impressions.

Why it matters

The incident exposes critical gaps in how major platforms police paid advertising, particularly for AI-generated content that exploits real children. For enterprises building AI systems or advertising on social platforms, it underscores the urgent need for robust content moderation that can detect synthetic media abuse. The legal and reputational risks extend beyond tech companies to any organization whose ads might appear alongside such content.

Meta's response and jurisdictional questions

Meta claims the ads fall outside San Francisco's jurisdiction because there is "no indication" they were displayed in the city. The company's ad library does not provide city-level data for US ad placements, making this assertion difficult to verify.

The four-page letter from Chiu's office demands Meta explain how the ads bypassed its review systems, detail its reporting procedures to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and describe how it handles repeat offenders. The city attorney has given Meta 28 days to respond.

Systemic failures alleged

Chiu's letter argues the findings suggest "broader systemic problems" with Meta's ability to detect child sexual abuse content in advertising. Tech Transparency Project reported that Meta sometimes took more than a week to respond to reports about abusive ads, during which time the ads accumulated hundreds of additional views.

Katie Paul, director of Tech Transparency Project, stated that new ads featuring some of the same children continued appearing on Meta's platforms as of Wednesday, days after the organization's latest report. The group has reported the ads to both Meta and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Meta's advertising policies explicitly prohibit child sexual exploitation, adult nudity, and the promotion of nudify apps. The company says all advertisements undergo automated review and sometimes manual review before publication. Despite previous enforcement actions, including lawsuits against nudify app operators, researchers continue finding thousands of ads directing users to such applications.

These details were first reported by WIRED.