“This is the AI men actually use”: Meta ads pushed apps nudifying real teens

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/real-photos-of-young-girls-were-in-nudify-app-ads-on-facebook-instagram/

612 points · 112 comments · view on lemmy.world

112 Comments

mannycalavera@feddit.uk · 283 pts · 23h (38 replies)

Other ads animated a photo of a 14-year-old Instagram influencer “showing off her new sports club uniform” into “a video of her performing oral sex.”

Ok that's enough internet for now. Please alert me when it is safe to return.

WoolyNelson@lemmy.world · 117 pts · 23h (13 replies)

Internet? That's enough humanity. We had a... run. Time to burn it all down.

andyburke@fedia.io · 67 pts · 23h (10 replies)

fwiw, I think this is their actual endgame: use digital to convince people this isn't a small cabal of the ultrawealthy causing so much of this harm.

They say dictators don't need majority support, only a majority of people doubting themselves.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 48 pts · 23h (9 replies)

At least 56,575 children are sexually abused every year.

That’s according to U.S. child protective services records.

The number is staggering—yet it only reflects child sexual abuse that is recognized, reported, and found likely to have occurred against children ages 0-17.

FBI crime data shows that 51% of reported rape is perpetrated against people ages 0-19.

That’s approximately 61,754 young rape victims every year, including our most vulnerable children, adolescents navigating middle and high school, and young adults just beginning to move through the world with more independence.

It's really not a small cabal of the ultrawealthy though.

andyburke@fedia.io · 12 pts · 23h (8 replies)

That are trying to normalize AI nudifying apps usable on kids?

velma@sh.itjust.works · 41 pts · 23h (7 replies)

That are trying to normalize pedophilia.

cley_faye@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 21h (3 replies)

When what passes for the leader of the "free world" is a spearhead for pedophilia it's kind of a bit late to be safe talking about "normalizing" stuff.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 21h

Well yeah, that's why it's so silly to see comments about how these people at the top are trying to normalize it. It already is, they're already in power, they're not going anywhere.

GreenBeard@lemmy.ca · 0 pts · 22h (2 replies)

I doubt that group would be very significant if it weren't for the outsized influence of a handful of very wealthy, decadent men. At the very least there would be fewer roadblocks to doing something about the rest of the pervs.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 22h

fewer roadblocks to doing something about the rest of the pervs.

There are very few roadblocks for rapists as it is.

spankysalmon@fedinsfw.app · 23 pts · 20h

Humanity's fine if we ripped down these over-paid pedos instead of allowed them to run billion dollar scams...

shartgargle@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 18h

If you're the last one out, please shut off the lights.

Siegfried@lemmy.world · 78 pts · 21h (18 replies)

Don't wait standing

(I dont know if this translates, in argentina we day "get yourself a chair" or "don't wait standing" meaning that something wont happen)

TipRing@lemmy.world · 63 pts · 21h (1 reply)

The meaning of the idiom is remarkably clear in English. I propose we adopt this one.

Toga77@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2h

Pull up a seat at the table.

k0e3@lemmy.ca · 51 pts · 21h (12 replies)

I think we say, "don't hold your breath," in English.

h0tbeef@lemmy.zip · 33 pts · 21h (11 replies)

Or “don’t count on it” (because if you did you’d be counting for eternity)

I’m sure there’s more I’m not thinking of right now…

“Why don’t you wish in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one fills up first”

… yeah, I like the chair one

kestrel7_7@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 20h (6 replies)

When I was a kid I thought the saying was “why don’t you piss in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one fills first?” And I was like wow adults are gross

Ghost_Mermaid@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 8h (1 reply)

My mother used to say "If wishes were horses," and I had no idea where that came from. I didn't get internet until after her death in 2001. I looked up that saying and the complete version is, " If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. " Apparently, it's a very old saying so I guess adults weren't always gross.

musubibreakfast@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 8h

No, that's wrong. Here's the correct saying: If wishes were horses than I horse you a wish cock up the ass.

h0tbeef@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 20h (2 replies)

idk which hand you’d fill first doing that method, lmao

It’s basically just a crass way to say “wishing is for suckers”

Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 16h (1 reply)

idk which hand you’d fill first doing that method

Definitely the piss hand, unless your bowels are unwell.

..is not a sentence I thought I'd be typing today 😄

h0tbeef@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 5h

Liquid is harder to hold tho, so I think it depends on how you (subjectively) define when your hand is “full”

SethTaylor@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 14h

"Don't kink shame"

NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 20h

Well I know what phrase I'm using at the next opportunity

Uruanna@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 11h (2 replies)

That sounds kinda close to an old saying I've heard once in over 40 years

Put a finger in your mouth and a finger in your anus, and hope; if that doesn't work, switch around.

h0tbeef@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 5h (1 reply)

Lmao, where’d you hear that one?

Uruanna@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3h

High school from some staff member I think. Maybe 25 years ago.

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 28 pts · 19h

Ah, in English we say "don't hold your breath" for that, although sometimes it's also used for things that might happen eventually but it will take a long time.

Saledovil@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 4h

The English equivalent would be "Don't hold your breath"

db2@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 21h

It works. I'm going to start using it in fact.

myyass@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 17h

I don't know how to understand the anger I feel.

cley_faye@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 21h

Better pull the plug on that bell, because "it's here to stay", some people says proudly.

cinoreus@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 4h (1 reply)

This place is currently safer than other places right now.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 4h

Doubt.

blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 13h

By the time it is safe to return, no one will remember your comment, unfortunately

givesomefucks@lemmy.world · 133 pts · 23h (11 replies)

There's a nonzero chance oligarchs are pushing this to normalize pedophilla.

Like how Ghislane Maxwell was super involved in early reddit and their main draw for a long time was "legal" sexualization of children.

Especially since it's a common accusation they make against "the left". Most of the time when they accuse, it's a confession.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 47 pts · 23h (5 replies)

pushing this to normalize pedophilla.

They don't really need to manufacture how normalized pedophilia is in our society. They're simply capitalizing on it.

huey_m@piefed.social · 11 pts · 12h (1 reply)

Doesn't the widespread outrage kind of speak against this, though?

Here in Hungary, it was a scandal regarding the cover up of sexual abuses of young children under state protection that sparked the overthrow of Orbán, and was the only thing that managed to crack that nut finally. It's hard to overstate how much it galvanized people, even his own supporters, against him.

I don't know, I understand that it's demoralizing and I can even buy the argument it's more normalized than it should be, but the very existence of outrage against figures like Epstein (which seem to me to be extremely widespread, though maybe I'm missing something being out of the country for some years at this point) or this Hungarian scandal lead me to think the vast, vast majority of people do not find it remotely normal or acceptable. I don't think tarring all of society with the brush that it's been normalized is accurate. Or I'm misunderstanding what you mean by normalized.

madmantis24@lemmy.wtf · 7 pts · 7h

It's extremely telling that your comment is the first I've heard of that aspect of the election in Hungary. The mainstream press in the US effectively shrugged and said "I guess they just got tired of him"

In fact, it feels a lot like how the press in my country "explained" Obama's first election. Just a vague "Americans are tired of the Republican leadership and wanted change," Like the torture and disappearing of anyone they could sweep under the abstract wars of the time wasn't outrageous enough

DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.world · -25 pts · 23h (2 replies)

Might already be capitalizing on it with the international sex trafficking of children. Surprised most people don’t know about shit pop or you call it hip hop.

OwOarchist@pawb.social · 14 pts · 23h

Might already be capitalizing on it with the international sex trafficking of children.

Definitely are.

You think Epstein was the only one? You think he hasn't already been replaced yet?

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 20h

Wtf does that have to do with the price of eggs in China

Carl@anarchist.nexus · 37 pts · 22h (1 reply)

Hell, I vividly remember the old /u/ViolentAcrez thing, and tons of users being butthurt when subs like /r/Jailbait, /r/CreepShots, and /r/Upskirting were taken down.

CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 20h

Fuck spez

Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 19h (2 replies)

Ok I was unaware of the Maxwell involvement

gagcar@lemmus.org · 14 pts · 17h

And maybe no surprise, Epstein was involved with the beginnings of 4Chan.

osanna@lemmy.vg · 5 pts · 11h

it's highly likely she was u/maxwellhill

Snapz@lemmy.world · 72 pts · 12h (2 replies)

As bad as this guy is (literally just one of THE worst guys), I can never get over how his wife is a pediatrician and they have three daughters and she's just along for the ride? The damage that family does to millions of children, and especially girls, through their direct action and inaction is astonishing.

ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 20 pts · 12h

Must be an ironclad prenup

cinoreus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 4h

I really feel bad for parents like you. What a horrible era to live through. Younger people like me, who don't have any direct siblings or significant others don't have much to worry about. But I can't even imagine what it must be for people with families.

Leather@lemmy.world · 68 pts · 13h (4 replies)

The Epstein class supports kiddy porn for profit? Shocked! I tell you shocked!

Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 16 pts · 12h

zuck attended epstein's party at one of his "properties" along with other well known billionaires in the past, he definitely knows or is involved.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 13 pts · 8h

I'm so happy that photo exists.

ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10h (1 reply)

Libertarian types, which the right is part of, see CSAM as just "recordings of crimes", so they likely do it intentionally, to slowly change the general public's view on the matter.

fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 8h

I mean I can be libertarian and see that legal definition holding water while also thinking that's fucked up to want to see naked kids. Loli bait or otherwise is a problem and people should be shamed when they make, buy, or engage with it.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 65 pts · 20h

You know how in the movie Idiocracy they used " 'baitin" as a shock factor, and had all the woman characters be demeaned and sexualized?

Somehow, this is a lot worse.

Cheese_man@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 19h (3 replies)

This country hates its children. And all vulnerable people. We continually treat them as disposable, exploitable resources instead of people deserving of protection and care.

Today's kids regularly have to rehearse finding cover from a hail of bullets at school, try to prepare themselves for an unlivable ecology, and wonder if any random picture of them will instantly be turned into porn via the new basis of our country's economy. Capitalism is going great.

uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 12h

We always have treated our children as disposable. It was difficult even to prohibit factory child labor, which faced serious resistance from the courts. Some states are even reversing that. (Agricultural child labor is still legal.)

I good deep dive is the You're Wrong About on Juvenile Justice (here on YouTube.)

TL:DR we have a whole subset of crime for kids, delinquency which is stuff that's a crime for kids to do, but not adults. And delinquency crimes are totally used as a pipeline to get kids into the prison industrial complex.

Also, our public education system has always had containment as a priority. When kids are not working but their parents are, they get into mischief, and thus we needed somewhere to cage them. This, and not edification, is why school is mandatory.

Children have fewer rights than adults do, and the law enforcement and the justice system takes full advantage of that to exploit kids.

This is the United States of America.

heartSagan5@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 18h

And train to enter into an economy that is autonomous from the neck down.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 14h

I think they just hate, nothing is protected even what they claim.

aReallyCrunchyLeaf@lemmy.ml · 41 pts · 22h

Abolish Facebook

mctoasterson@reddthat.com · 40 pts · 17h

Avoiding all meta apps is a good decision.

tal@lemmy.today · 35 pts · 23h (9 replies)

Legend has it that every new technology is first used for something related to sex or pornography. That seems to be the way of humankind.

---Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of HTTP and HTML

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/mar/03/internetnews.observerfocus

The dirty secret that drives new technology: it's porn

The Guardian, 24 years ago

Insekticus@aussie.zone · 31 pts · 22h (5 replies)

I'm terrified to think of what Oppenheimer did with the first A-bomb then...

ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 20h (1 reply)

"I am becum death, hnnnnnnngh!" --Oppenheimer

Blaster_M@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 18h

Why do I hear this quote in Mr. Regular voice?

tal@lemmy.today · 14 pts · 22h

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core

The demon core was a sphere of plutonium–gallium alloy that was involved in two fatal radiation accidents when scientists tested it as a fissile core of an early atomic bomb.

Scientists referred to this flirtation with a nuclear chain reaction as "tickling the dragon's tail", based on a remark by physicist Richard Feynman.[12][13]

It was a case of an unfortunate mistranslation due to the lack of awareness among historians about the thriving scalie scene at the Manhattan Project.

Silic0n_Alph4@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 22h

He unleashed his Little Boy all over Hir! (oshima)

raspirate@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 17h

This comment reminded me of a cherished Little Joel video.

Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 19h (2 replies)

That porn was one of the big drivers for home VHS and online payments.

tal@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 17h

Yeah, honestly, you could go way further back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine

A Venus figurine is any Upper Palaeolithic statue portraying a woman, usually carved in the round.[1] Most have been unearthed in Europe, but others have been found as far away as Siberia and distributed across much of Eurasia.

Most date from the Gravettian period (26,000–21,000 years ago).[1] However, findings are not limited to this period; for example, the Venus of Hohle Fels dates back at least 35,000 years...

For context, we figured out agriculture and started to move away from hunter-gatherer life about 12,000 years ago.

These figurines are recognised as some of the earliest works of prehistoric art.

Most have wide hips and legs that taper to a point. Arms and feet are often absent, and the head is usually small and faceless. Various figurines exaggerate the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva, although many found examples do not reflect these typical characteristics. Depictions of hairstyles can be detailed, and clothing or tattoos may be indicated.[5]

The original cultural meaning and purpose of these artefacts is not known. It has frequently been suggested that they may have served a ritual or symbolic function.

I have a guess.

ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 12h

Its a bit overstated. Sure, Sony blocked adult material from Betamax, but VHS simply had longer running time on the tapes, a larger library, and far cheaper hardware.

RockBottom@feddit.org · 31 pts · 15h

Good to know what the data centers get built for.

abbadon420@sh.itjust.works · 24 pts · 22h

Surprise! Nazis do not only exploit the marginalized, but also find and exploit weaknesses is ordinary people.

DGen@piefed.zip · 23 pts · 14h

Bro what the fuck

CosmoNova@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 22h

I don‘t want to live on this planet anymore.

cinoreus@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 4h (5 replies)

Uk what sucks? We knew AI was capable of it from start. Hell, we even saw this happen on twitter. And yet what we did? Just let it happen. Gave a slap on the wrist to elon, and did nothing to address this.

I remember when I first saw nano banana I immediately deleted all my profile photos, and looked up on wayback machine to see if any of my photographs were archived or not. Yeah it's kinda late and it must be somewhere on some hidden archive, but atleast I've bought myself some time. Since that day I have maintained a strict policy amongst my friends and family that I'm not going to be in photographs that are going to be posted online.

Also I want to be clear, I'm not saying it's corporations responsibility alone. It's responsibility of individual people to not use it. This is freaking crime. But I'm pissed how world is trying to make it the new normal, and regulators have been too sluggish to respond to it.

JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 4h (4 replies)

What is nano banana? I'm afraid to Google it

MadBits@europe.pub · 12 pts · 3h (1 reply)

It's what they call my pecker.

JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 3h

That's unfortunate. Sorry about your dick, dude.

cinoreus@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 4h (1 reply)

Google's image generation model. Yeah that's a horrible name.

JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 4h

Oh, I see. Yeah, terrible name.

QueenHawlSera@piefed.social · 10 pts · 15h

Well that's disgustingly and unapologetically pedophilliac

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 10 pts · 2h

Let's make toxic masculinity work for good.

"Real men don't use AI."

DisgruntledPelican@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 16h (1 reply)

This is definitely the kind of ai Trump would use if he was able to use a computer. He should ask his sons to teach him how to use it, they are so good with technology.

TheFogan@programming.dev · 6 pts · 14h

I don't think even his worse sycophants wouldn't have thought his truth social posts were a good idea. Depicting himself as jesus etc... So I do have to kind of conclude, at the very least someone has either set up something so easy he can use it, or he's able to use it on his own already.

Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 31m

So by viewing ads you get CSAM in your browser cache. Therefore you can be charged with 1 count of possession for each image saved. Failure to use an ad blocker is dangerous.

Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 14h

META android zuckerborg has succeeded in enslaving Human conservatives.

drmoose@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 18h (2 replies)

People are reading into this way too hard. This seems like an ad attack which is nothing new on Facebook. As you can target by user preference using: "oh this person from your feed but now naked" to bait a click is classic personalized ad attack. Facebook ads platform needs to be abolished altogether - it's incredibly unsafe.

Very deceiving article title by arstechnica, disappointing.

Rothe@piefed.social · 5 pts · 7h (1 reply)

Nothing of what you write absolves meta of the prime responsibility for this happening. They provided the platform where they not only let this happen but actively encourage it (and often pay for it).

drmoose@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 7h

I never said it did

Yuccagnocchiyaki@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 8h (3 replies)

We ALL know what should happen to pedophiles. Everyday they brag about their pedophilia to our face.

WE ALL KNOW AHY SHOULD HAPPEN TO PEDOPHILES.

EVEN CRIMINALS KNOW WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO PEDOPHILES

explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 6h

Pedophiles rapists

magic_smoke@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1h (1 reply)

Most incarcerated people, at least state side, are charged with non-violent and non-sexual crimes.

You could make an argument for a lot of them not deserving to be there, and a lot more for only being there due to financial/societal circumstance.

Those are still people, many of them decent people.

Yuccagnocchiyaki@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1h

Agreed. That's even my point.

HubertManne@piefed.social · -15 pts · 23h (1 reply)

no. there is like tons of porn from hot women who are fine making their money that way.

velma@sh.itjust.works · 20 pts · 23h

They aren't running ads for CSAM because no one pays for it.

Mulligrubs@lemmy.world · -27 pts · 22h (6 replies)

That's where the money is.

I don't think it's just a small amount of men who like preteens and teenagers. I would wager it's most men. We've been imprisoning them for owning CP for decades now, yet the market is not shrinking. Various sources report CSAM is "exploding"...there's been an increase of something like 70% of these websites in the past few years.

CP with younger kids is also growing. Hundreds of thousands of websites host this material in USA, not even counting dark web (and that's just in the USA, only 20% of these sites are in USA).

How big is the market with those kind of numbers? I'm too stupid to figure it out, but I'd imagine that means many millions of men, tens of millions? It staggers the mind.

The internet has been fantastic in many ways, but it's revealed what many men are like in private, and it's a very ugly revelation.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/26/1051282/the-us-now-hosts-more-child-sexual-abuse-material-online-than-any-other-country/

floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 20 pts · 20h (1 reply)

Do you honestly believe that billions of people are paedophiles?

uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 12h

The Satanic Panic was largely about the US public learning (and being aghast) that CSA is epidemic in the US. At the time, one in three women surveyed were sexually abused as kids. (There are several good deep dives on the Satanic Panic. I recommend the webcast series by Sarah Marshall.)

At the time, we just couldn't handle the notion that CSA was being done by people the kids knew (parents, neighbors, friends, teachers, ministers and so on), so we made up the mythology of Satanic Ritual Abuse, that there were these vast rings of Satanists (not the TST kind or the LaVey kind) who were diddling kids as a way to worship the Christian devil, and gain magical power. Americans were not prepared to acknowledge that the abusers were among themselves, and so they bought into the story.

Now there are CSA rings that exist, and the Epstein child trafficking ring is among them, but it's a smaller circle. The thing about being high enough in the ownership class is that legality (or morality) no longer is a barrier to getting stuff you want. And so there's a preponderance of drug use, of sex tourism, of sending gay kids to conversion therapy (or troubled teens to abduction/reformation camps). And so there are industries to facilitate these needs, because the demand is there and they have money to spend.

Moreover, the global system of capitalism depends on contrived desperation. Workers who are skipping meals are more eager to take on jobs that pay meagerly and are dangerous and arduous. When food, shelter, healthcare, etc. is a right, suddenly workers cost a premium. The same thing applies to sex trafficking. After the collapse of the USSR, girls from those countries were glad to put up and put out if it meant a reliable meal ticket. Single-digit kids were on the streets peddling sexual favors for lunch money. This was a font Epstein tapped for his service staff. The more desperate the girls were, the less grooming they required.

Hopefully, this is the moment we figure it out, that as long as we have an owner class, we're going to have systems of contrived desperation to drive bonded servitude, including child trafficking. Especially if the owner class is exponentially more wealthy than the worker class. Maybe this is the moment we are able to collectively develop class consciousness, since it directly serves to protect our children.

GreenBeard@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 22h (2 replies)

Many, yes. A plurality, probably. I don't know that it's most, but given the widespread abandon of anything resembling ethics of any kind in modern society, I think the situation is a lot worse than anyone wants to admit. Contrary to the Christian pearl clutchers, I don't think the moral decay has anything to do with religion, but there has been a moral decay, the call is just coming from inside the house more often than it is from outside.

db2@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 21h (1 reply)

Is also not exclusive to men.

GreenBeard@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 17h

No, but it is more predominantly male. There's still certain natural and social consequences that keep some people from going full nihilistic hedonist. The collapse of manners, mores, social boundaries, dignity, and basic values is troubling but reality still has a way of making crossing certain boundaries dangerous and expensive for some people.

ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 15h

First of all, pedophilia is not exclusive to any gender. I think you need to examine your hateful biases.

Cytobit@piefed.social · -28 pts · 22h (3 replies)

This title is projecting the actions of a minority of men to slander all men. This is bigotry.

verily@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 33 pts · 22h

FYI: You are arguing with what the CSAM ad says. That's what the article is quoting here.

chewypoops@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 20h

"Yes officer, that's the guy" 🫵

blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 13h

Where does it say all men?