Meta ran 7,600 AI nudify ads via Chinese partner, report finds

Meta Platforms' ↘ 1.97% Facebook and Instagram served roughly 7,600 advertisements for AI "nudify" apps capable of digitally undressing women, all placed through one of the company's own authorized advertising partners in China, according to a report published by the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project on July 25.techtransparencyproject

The findings reveal a gap between Meta's stated policies — which explicitly ban nudify apps and sexually explicit advertising — and the enforcement of those rules when it comes to a lucrative business relationship with Beijing-based GatherOne, one of approximately eleven Chinese ad agencies hand-picked by Meta to connect Chinese businesses with its global audience.

A Network of Explicit Ads

TTP identified 43 Facebook pages linked to GatherOne that ran ads for apps verified as capable of placing women's faces onto naked bodies or into pornographic videos. A broader set of 210 GatherOne-linked pages ran a collective 30,800 ads promoting face-swap and other AI tools, with 85 percent of those pages eventually having ads removed by Meta for violating its own standards on sexual exploitation and nudity.techtransparencyproject

The apps advertised included tools offering "one-click undress" features and AI-generated pornographic content. At least one app, BAfter, drew user reviews flagging apparent child sexual abuse material. Meta told Bloomberg it has now banned BAfter.finance.yahoo+1

GatherOne generates more than 30,000 ads per month and received four industry performance awards at Meta's 2026 Agent Summit in Hong Kong in January, underscoring the closeness of the business relationship.techtransparencyproject

Meta and GatherOne Respond

Meta's Head of Women's Safety Policy, Cindy Southworth, said the company does not permit non-consensual intimate images or nudify apps on its platforms. Meta said advertisers who violate its policies risk ad cancellation, financial penalties, and account termination.thenews+1

GatherOne stated it has suspended new advertising accounts for nudify, face-swap, and "AI girlfriend" services and is undertaking a compliance upgrade. One advertiser's account was permanently banned after an app cited in the report was removed from the Google Play Store on July 21.techtransparencyproject+2

Broader Context

China has become one of Meta's most important advertising markets, generating $18.35 billion in revenue in 2024. A December 2025 Reuters report, citing internal Meta documents, found the company calculated that about 19 percent of its China ad revenue — more than $3 billion — came from ads for scams, illegal gambling, pornography, and other banned content.techtransparencyproject

The revelations arrive as enforcement of the Take It Down Act, signed into law last year and criminalizing the publication of non-consensual sexual imagery, began in May under the Federal Trade Commission. A George Mason University survey found more than half of 557 surveyed U.S. teenagers had used nudification tools on themselves or others.thenews