Meta displayed more than 3300 sexually explicit ads in 2024

Last year, more than 3300 sexually explicit ads were displayed on Meta social media platforms. 

The findings have been revealed by the European nonprofit research body AI Forensics. The ads were found on Facebook and Instagram, posing the question if parent company Meta is profiting from content that clearly violates its own rules.

AI Forensics conveyed that the material had spread to around eight million social users, mainly targeting males over the age of 44. 

The researchers also flagged an inconsistency with Meta’s moderation setup, with a quick test. 

When the team attempted to repost the same imagery to Facebook and Instagram, they were immediately withdrawn, suggesting the company does not apply the same standards to paid advertisers as it does to regular users of its mega sites.

The apparent discrepancy in moderation between different user classes was critiqued by a British academic. 

Dr. Carolina Are from Northumbria University’s Center for Digital Citizens in the UK remarked to the New Scientist, “I’m both disappointed and not surprised by the report, given that my research has already exposed double standards in content moderation, particularly in the realms of sexual content.” 

In response to the report, a spokesperson for Meta said the sexually explicit content contravened its rules and has since been removed. 

“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 violating content,” said the social media giant.

This slight on Meta comes after its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, published a video last Tuesday (Jan 7) to announce the company was overhauling its fact-checking process. He explained how cuts would be made to the fact-checking team in favor of a system similar to Elon Musk’s X platform.

In case you have not kept up, here is what happened with Meta last week:

Here is Mark Zuckerberg’s video where he talks about the changes he is making to Meta, specifically fact checking and other policies:https://t.co/RYcq7oFZj3#PPCChat

— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2025

Image credit: Via Midjourney

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