Meta Faces San Francisco Cease-and-Desist Over AI Child Sexual Abuse Ads and Class Action Over Faceprints Used to Train AI

San Francisco's city attorney gave Meta 28 days to answer for 350+ paid ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse content that reached 29,000+ accounts; separately, Illinois and California families sued Meta alleging Facebook and Instagram photos were…

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu issued a cease-and-desist ordering Meta to stop 'allowing' paid ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse content and demanding answers about moderation failures within 28 days. Tech Transparency Project researchers found more than 350 ads that turned images of minors — some of real people, including a European royal family member — into videos depicting sexual acts and directed users to AI nudify apps; the ads reached over 29,000 accounts across the EU, US, Australia and India. The letter cites Meta's slow response to abuse reports and systemic detection problems. Meta says all ads have been removed, most had fewer than 200 impressions and total ad spend was under $5,000, and argues the ads ran outside the city attorney's jurisdiction. Separately, a proposed class action filed in federal court in Chicago by Illinois and California families alleges Meta extracted biometric data from Facebook and Instagram photos without notice or consent to develop the unreleased NameTag face-recognition system for smart glasses and to train its generative models Emu and Muse Image. The NameTag code was found embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which had been downloaded more than 50 million times before the code's removal. Plaintiffs invoke Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, seeking $5,000 per intentional or $1,000 per negligent violation, in a class that could number in the millions dating back to September 2021. Meta calls the suit without merit and says it is not building a universal face database; the complaint cites Meta's prior biometric settlements of $650 million in Illinois in 2020 and $1.4 billion in Texas in 2024.

• San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu issued a cease-and-desist demanding Meta stop 'allowing' paid ads with AI-generated child sexual abuse content and respond within 28 days about moderation failures.
• Tech Transparency Project researchers found more than 350 ads that turned images of minors — some of real people, including a European royal family member — into videos depicting sexual acts, directing users to AI nudify apps.
• The ads reached over 29,000 accounts across the EU, US, Australia and India.
• The cease-and-desist letter cites Meta's slow response to abuse reports and systemic detection problems.
• Meta says all ads have been removed, most had fewer than 200 impressions and total ad spend was under $5,000, and argues the ads ran outside the city attorney's jurisdiction.
• A proposed class action filed in federal court in Chicago alleges Meta extracted biometric data from Facebook and Instagram photos without notice or consent to develop the unreleased NameTag face-recognition system for smart glasses and to…
• The NameTag code was found embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which had been downloaded more than 50 million times before the code's removal.
• Plaintiffs invoke Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, seeking $5,000 per intentional or $1,000 per negligent violation, in a class that could number in the millions dating back to September 2021.