San Francisco Sends Meta Cease-and-Desist Over AI Child Abuse Ads

Meta says it reviews advertisements against its policies before they run. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu is now demanding an explanation after researchers identified paid ads on Meta’s platforms containing AI-generated child sexual abuse content.

Chiu’s office sent Meta a cease-and-desist letter telling the company to stop allowing the ads. The letter says the findings point to possible broader, systemic problems in how Meta detects potential child sexual abuse in advertising and requests a response within 28 days.

The city attorney is seeking details on how the ads repeatedly avoided moderation, how Meta escalates and reports relevant ads to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and how it addresses the advertisers behind them and repeat offenders.

More than 350Ads identified

Tech Transparency Project researchers identified more than 350 ads that transformed images of minors into sexualized video clips.

More than 29,000Accounts reached in EU countries

The cited research said the ads reached more than 29,000 accounts in European Union countries.

Under $5,000Meta’s reported total ad spend

Meta said total spending on the more than 300 identified ads was under $5,000.

The ads promoted tools capable of abuse

The ads appeared on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, and targeted accounts in the European Union, the United States, Australia and India. They directed users to AI image- and video-generation apps, including tools capable of digitally undressing people or creating nonconsensual intimate imagery.

What San Francisco wants Meta to account for

• How the ads cleared its moderation systems repeatedly.
• How reports are escalated and when apparent exploitation is reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
• How Meta responds to the advertisers behind the ads and to repeat offenders.

Removal is not the dispute’s endpoint

Meta said all identified ads were removed for policy violations. It also argued that the ads fall outside the city attorney’s jurisdiction because there was no indication they were displayed in San Francisco. Meta’s ad library does not show where within the United States ads ran, according to the report.

That position addresses the location of the alleged conduct, not the system questions in the letter. Tech Transparency Project said some reports of abusive ads went unanswered for more than a week, during which the ads reached additional users. Chiu’s demand is therefore aimed at whether Meta can prevent and reliably handle this type of paid content, not only remove examples after they are found.