At a time when global and societal concerns are mounting over the misuse of generative artificial intelligence technologies to violate privacy, a shocking investigative report published by the non-profit organization Tech Transparency Project on July 25 revealed a severe and glaring flaw in the advertising moderation system of the technology company Meta. According to the detailed report, the company’s Facebook and Instagram platforms displayed approximately 7,600 commercial ads promoting artificial intelligence applications capable of digitally undressing women without their consent. Even more controversial and concerning is the fact that all of these explicit ads were broadcast and published through a single advertising agency authorized and trusted by the company itself, headquartered in Beijing, China. These serious findings reveal a deep and clear gap between Meta’s official stated policies, which explicitly and categorically prohibit all undressing apps and sexually explicit content ads, and the actual and strict enforcement of these rules, especially when it comes to highly lucrative business relationships with international partners that generate massive financial revenue for the company.
- The advertising network and violations of safe content policies
- The role of the Chinese partner and previous awards granted
- Official reactions and measures taken to curb the crisis
- The broader economic context and US federal legislation
- Frequently asked questions
The advertising network and violations of safe content policies
The investigative team and researchers at the Tech Transparency Project were able to identify a complex and extensive network consisting of 43 public pages on Facebook, all directly linked to the Chinese agency GatherOne. These pages ran thousands of advertising campaigns promoting applications that were independently verified and proven to have the actual capability of superimposing women’s faces onto naked bodies or inserting them into fake pornographic videos with extremely high accuracy thanks to generative AI algorithms. Furthermore, the investigative scope expanded to include a much wider group of 210 pages associated with the same agency, which collectively ran and displayed more than 30,800 ads promoting advanced face-swapping tools and other suspicious AI tools. Ultimately, after these campaigns reached users, Meta was forced to remove the ads from 85 percent of these pages for flagrantly violating community standards regarding sexual exploitation and nudity. Among the heavily promoted applications was an app offering a quick feature known as “one-click undress,” and another app called “BAfter,” which received user reviews clearly indicating it contained materials related to child sexual abuse, prompting the company to permanently ban the app later after it was exposed by the media.
The role of the Chinese partner and previous awards granted
This ethical scandal directly highlights GatherOne, one of about 11 major Chinese advertising agencies carefully selected by Meta’s leadership to be the direct and official liaison between Chinese companies and the global audience. This agency is considered a major player in the Asian digital advertising market, generating and managing more than 30,000 ads monthly on behalf of its clients. What adds to the embarrassment for the American technology company is that GatherOne had received four specialized and distinguished industry performance awards during the 2026 Meta Agency Summit held in Hong Kong last January. This recognition reflects the strength and close relationship that existed between the two parties prior to the revelation of these flagrant violations of the ethical and community policies that the company claims to uphold.
Official reactions and measures taken to curb the crisis
Following the publication of this bombshell and influential report, Cindy Southworth, Meta’s head of women’s safety policy, rushed to issue statements firmly asserting that the company has zero tolerance for publishing non-consensual intimate images or promoting AI-based digital undressing apps on its various platforms. Management emphasized that advertisers proven to violate these strict policies face the risk of immediate cancellation of their advertising campaigns, imposition of deterrent financial penalties, permanent account termination, and bans from accessing the platform. Meanwhile, under media pressure, GatherOne issued an official statement confirming that it had immediately suspended all new advertising campaigns promoting undressing services, face-swapping, or virtual “AI girlfriend” services. The agency noted that it is currently implementing a comprehensive upgrade to its internal compliance systems to ensure such incidents do not recur in the future. Additionally, the account of a major advertiser was permanently banned after its app mentioned in the report was removed from the Google Play Store on July 21.
The broader economic context and US federal legislation
These leaks and violations come at a very sensitive time for Meta, as China has become one of its most important and largest advertising markets ever, generating massive revenues for the company reaching $18.35 billion in 2024 alone. According to a Reuters report from December 2025 based on leaked internal documents, the company estimated in its calculations that about 19 percent of advertising revenue coming from China—amounting to over $3 billion—came from ads promoting scams, illegal gambling, pornography, and other prohibited content. These harrowing discoveries coincide with the US Federal Trade Commission beginning enforcement in May of provisions of a new law signed last year called the “Take It Down Act,” which federally and categorically criminalizes the publication of non-consensual sexual images in all their forms. An academic field survey conducted by George Mason University revealed that more than half of the 557 American teenagers participating in the study had used digital undressing tools on themselves or others, signaling a severe societal crisis that requires decisive regulatory intervention from both governments and companies alike.
Frequently asked questions
Question: What is the number of violating ads detected on Meta platforms?
Answer: Approximately 7,600 ads promoting artificial intelligence applications capable of digitally undressing women were detected, in addition to over 30,800 ads related to manipulation and face-swapping tools.
Question: Who is the direct party responsible for passing these ads to the platform?
Answer: The ads were broadcast and published through an authorized and trusted Chinese advertising agency named GatherOne, based in Beijing, which is responsible for connecting advertisers with the audience.
Question: What immediate actions did Meta take after the report was revealed?
Answer: The company completely banned the violating apps, removed the ads from 85 percent of the associated pages, and confirmed the imposition of financial penalties and the closure of accounts violating safe content policies.
Question: What is the volume of annual profits Meta generates from Chinese advertising?
Answer: Advertising revenues coming from China reached approximately $18.35 billion in 2024, with previous estimates indicating that 19 percent of them come from banned ads that violate general policies.
