The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a series of social media ads for AI apps that promoted sexually explicit content and objectified women.

Investigations found several troubling examples, including a customizable female character used in sexualized contexts (tyan.ai), requests to upload photos of women and a user's crush to create 'seductive' videos (Nexaipic), transforming a photographed clothed woman into topless imagery (KH31 DD22), prompts to generate sexually explicit videos from photos (Rusto AI), and sexualized images depicting a woman in a subordinate position (PictoPop).

During the investigations, a legal change made supplying AI nudification apps a criminal offence, reinforcing the regulatory stance.

The campaign involved AI-generated imagery and deepfakes, aligning with broader UK concerns and prior actions against sexually explicit deepfakes and related laws.

Ads originated on Meta platforms and targeted AI companion, portrait generation, and image-to-video tools.

Meta had already removed the offending ads, and the ASA said it may notify platforms and law enforcement about illegal content.

Meta highlighted its ongoing crackdown on nudification apps, including use of detection tech, and noted it removed over 344,000 ads for nudify apps between late 2025 and early 2026.

Meta stated the ads were removed before any report and reiterated its platform-wide prohibition on nudify or similar apps.

ASA warned of potential real-world harm and noted the content could violate new UK laws on non-consensual deepfake nude imagery, with these laws shaping future enforcement.

Industry voices, including EVAW’s interim director, argued these apps normalize violence against women and contribute to harassment and intimidation.