The Advertising Standards Authority has prohibited five social media advertisements across Meta platforms for AI companion and video generation applications, determining they violated advertising standards by objectifying women and promoting harmful gender stereotypes. The regulator found that the ads encouraged creation of sexually explicit content using real women’s images without consent, and in one case featured a minor in a sexualized context.
The banned advertisements came from multiple AI application developers. One promoted an AI companion generator that allowed customization of a synthetic female character depicted with sexualized imagery alongside childlike elements. Two separate ads for portrait generation software invited users to upload images of their romantic interests to create explicit videos. Additional advertisements for image-to-video generation tools depicted women being transformed from clothed to partially clothed or nude states, suggesting the applications could be misused to create non-consensual intimate imagery.
The action by the advertising watchdog reflects heightened regulatory scrutiny of AI tools capable of creating deepfake content. The enforcement coincides with recent UK legislation outlawing applications designed to generate non-consensual nude imagery, which was prompted by public outcry over similar functionality on social media platforms. The ASA stated it would coordinate with law enforcement when ads are identified as potentially illegal under the new legal framework.
Meta had already removed the offending advertisements prior to the ASA’s formal action, citing violations of its own platform policies. However, broader research earlier this month identified thousands of similar advertisements on Meta’s platforms promoting image manipulation tools. While Meta indicated it uses detection technology and has pursued legal action against nudification applications, the company declined to provide detailed comments on the specific enforcement action.
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