Meta Scandal: banned content, millions of views

Despite the strict ban of the Meta corporation on the promotion of applications for “undressing” people, a large-scale advertising campaign of such services unfolded directly on Facebook and Instagram feeds. According to an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), GatherOne, one of Meta’s biggest business partners in China, was behind it.

Details

Although Facebook and Instagram are officially blocked in China, Meta continues to work with local advertising agencies, allowing them to promote Chinese products to overseas audiences. GatherOne Agency, also known as Hongkong Gather Wisdom Network Technology Co. Ltd. actively used this status to place thousands of ads.

Scale and methods of promotion

According to the Tech Transparency Project, GatherOne’s advertising activity reached hundreds of sites on Facebook. The study found 210 pages that together published more than 30,800 advertisements focused on users from the European Union.

• 43 pages promoted AI programs to remove clothes from women (over 7,600 ads).
• 160 pages distributed content with imitation of sexual scenes and pornography.
• Ads used deepfakes and images that violate Meta’s policy on sexual exploitation.

Cost

Such programs often offer “premium features” for more advanced photo processing. As an example, the BAfter service created by Chinese developers is given. Users were offered a paid subscription with a price grid:

• Minimum weekly access — €6.99 ($7.57, UAH 305).
• Lifetime access to the service — €169.99 ($184.11, UAH 7,420).

Meta Liability

Although the Meta Ad Library reports that 179 out of 210 pages have been blocked or removed for sexual content violations, the problem remains acute. The Tech Transparency Project found that even after the sanctions, at least two dozen GatherOne-related pages continued to post similar ads. At this point, it remains unclear when exactly these materials were removed – before they reached a wide audience or after they were shown.