Meta may face legal case over sexual deepfake ads, professor says

Sexual deepfake advertisements on Facebook and Instagram could provide grounds for legal action against Meta, according to law professor Sten Schaumburg-Müller. DR Verificerer counted more than 29,000 advertisements for sexual deepfake apps on the platforms in Denmark over two years.

In Denmark, it is illegal to produce or share material showing real people manipulated into sexual situations without their consent. The advertisements appeared despite violating Meta’s own policies. DR Verificerer counted 29,389 such advertisements in Denmark and 212,874 worldwide.

“When we cannot find out who uploaded it, you have to go to the companies where it is appearing. The question can then be reduced to this: are they doing enough to remove it?” said Schaumburg-Müller, a law professor at the University of Southern Denmark, in an interview with DR’s P1 Morgen.

DR Verificerer reported that images of several women and men taken from social media had been manipulated into sexualised videos promoting so-called nudify apps on Meta’s platforms.

One of those affected was Filippa, a 24-year-old Swedish woman whose image was used in a video advertisement on Facebook and Instagram over the summer without her knowledge. An ordinary photograph of her and a friend on a bus home from work was manipulated with artificial intelligence and turned into a pornographic video.

“I have no control or knowledge of who this video has reached. Who has seen it? Someone I know? Is it someone I will meet in the future who will have seen me like this?” she said.

Filippa requested anonymity, so the name is fictitious. DR knows her real identity.

DR shared the list of apps promoted by the advertisements with Meta. The company said it could not confirm that the figure of 29,389 was correct. Meta did not respond to DR’s requests for an interview, but provided a written statement.

“We do not tolerate nudify apps or any form of sexual exploitation, whether real or AI-generated, and we are taking firm action to keep our platforms safe,” the company said.

Meta also said it had blocked 92 million sexual advertisements over the previous 10 months because they violated its policy on sexualised advertising.

Schaumburg-Müller said Meta could potentially be held legally responsible if it could be shown that the company was able to do more to prevent and remove the illegal advertisements.

“Meta could probably be considered to be contributing to it. It appears on their platforms. And are they doing enough to remove it? They say they are, but could they do more? That would have to be tested in court if someone takes up the case, which I would encourage,” he said.

Potential consequences could include compensation for people affected or fines for companies, he said. Whether legal action would prevent the advertisements from appearing again was more uncertain.

Meta said it had removed many of the advertisements sent to the company by DR and had taken action against advertisers.

“We have already initiated legal proceedings against one company for repeatedly advertising nudify apps, and we have sent cease and desist notices to more than 45 others,” Meta said.

The company added that criminals behind this type of activity constantly change their tactics to avoid detection, requiring Meta to continue improving its defences and holding them accountable.