Our story details how, researchers at the @ttp-updates.bsky.social stumbled across a batch of ads—including face swapping a minor into a sexual act—after publishing a report on "nudify" ads on Meta last week. The researchers reported the findings to US clearing house, NCMEC

Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.

wired.com

NEW: One of Meta’s key business partners in China, GatherOne, is behind a vast network of Facebook and Instagram ads promoting “nudify” apps, according to a new TTP investigation.

TTP - Meta’s Chinese Partner Behind Deluge of Nudify Ads

GatherOne is one of Meta’s key advertising partners in China. Its name is attached to thousands of ads for nudify apps.

techtransparencyproject.org

Earlier this month, YouTube removed hundreds of videos promoting a sanctioned Russian drone factory, which had been posted on 100s of channels totaling 500 million subscribers. This comes weeks after a TTP report exposed dozens of YT channels for US-sanctioned Iranian entities.

Yesterday, the San Francisco City Attorney demanded that Apple and Google remove 13 AI face-swapping apps capable of creating nonconsensual nude images. The action follows multiple TTP reports showing the companies hosting—and at times even promoting—“nudify” apps on their stores.

Last year, a TTP report showed how Meta platforms were awash with scam ads that deployed AI-generated deepfakes to prey on users. Now, a new @apnews.com investigation details how many other US tech products—like AI and Starlink—fit into global scam operations. apnews.com/article/scam...

Reporting on how AI-generated deepfake nudes are harming kids, @wsj.com cites a George Mason University survey revealing “nudification” apps have shockingly wide adoption, and TTP research showing just how easy these apps are to find and download.

AI Supercharges Deepfake Nudes—Unleashing a New Form of Bullying Among Kids

As ‘nudify’ tools proliferate online, parents and schools are struggling to protect young victims.

wsj.com

NEW: As the Trump administration piles new sanctions on Iran amid the ongoing conflict, YouTube is making money off dozens of channels for U.S.-sanctioned Iranian officials and groups, according to a TTP investigation.

TTP - YouTube Profits Off U.S.-Sanctioned Iranians Amid Middle East Conflict

The U.S. imposes economic sanctions on an array of Iranian officials and groups. YouTube is providing channels to many of them and running ads on their videos.

techtransparencyproject.org

This week, Meta announced policy changes to limit “how frequently teenagers are shown posts about topics like nutrition, weightlifting, and anxiety.” Meta has long struggled to protect kids on its platform, often failing to enforce the new policies it purports to roll out.

A new piece by @samleecole.bsky.social looks at the fallout after a boy created nonconsensual sexual AI deepfakes of his female classmates. The images were generated in an app called Movely—one tested by TTP in our April report, and available for download in the Apple App Store at the time.

NEW: Meta has deployed an army of influencer moms and medical professionals to promote its Teen Account safety features. The strategy comes as the company faces mounting criticism—and legal pressure—over its impact on the mental health of minors.

TTP - Meta Deploys ‘Momfluencers’ to Counter Child Safety Criticism

Meta has come under mounting scrutiny over its impact on teen mental health. It’s using Instagram influencers to try to change the narrative.

techtransparencyproject.org

This week, X stripped the blue check from the account of Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. This comes months after a TTP report identified his account as one of many blue-check accounts for Iranian gov officials subject to US sanctions.

NEW: HHS Secretary RFK Jr. is a new and prominent cheerleader for the use of health-monitoring wearables like the Apple Watch. A TTP report details how this turnaround coincides with extensive lobbying efforts by Apple and trade groups.

TTP - Apple Seeks Boost from Kennedy’s HHS, Congress on Watch Sales

Apple is positioning the Apple Watch as a health monitoring tool. It wants Washington’s help to get more Americans to buy them.

techtransparencyproject.org

NEW: Apple and Google ban “nudify” apps, but a new TTP report shows that their app stores direct users to them. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/app...

TTP - Apple and Google Are Steering Users to Nudify Apps

techtransparencyproject.org

NEW: @aarp.org bulletin digs into the danger of online scams that are increasingly made worse by the growing role of AI. The article includes an examination of TTP’s research on the prevalence of deepfake scam ads on Meta platforms targeting older Americans.

NEW: Following TTP’s August 2025 report on how Meta funds and uses groups like the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to help shift the narrative around its products’ impact on kids, the PTA has announced an end to its Meta partnership—citing “heightened public scrutiny.”

NEW: Elon Musk has signaled support for the recent anti-government protests in Iran. But a TTP investigation shows that X appears to be providing premium service to an array of Iranian officials and state-controlled media organizations that have been targeted by U.S. sanctions.

TTP - Iranian Officials Get Premium Treatment on X Amid Protester Crackdown

An array of Iranian government officials and organizations are enjoying paid, premium service on X despite being subject to U.S. sanctions.

techtransparencyproject.org

NEW: Online social casinos and sweepstakes casino games can leave users deeply in debt. A new TTP report details how Facebook—a leading platform for these games—helps attract and hook players while collecting a slice of the revenue for itself.

TTP - How Facebook Profits from 'Predatory' Casino Games

Social casino and sweepstakes games are “free” to play but can still leave players deeply in debt. Facebook is one of their primary platforms.

techtransparencyproject.org

Update: After TTP informed Apple and Google of the dozens of “nudify” apps in their stores, both companies removed many of them. Apple took down 27, Google 31. But the swift takedown—and tacit admission the apps broke store rules—raises serious questions about their approval processes.

After CNBC and @ttp-updates.bsky.social contacted Apple and Google about dozens of nudify apps on their respective app stores, the two companies removed dozens of these services from their platforms, but several remain www.cnbc.com/2026/01/27/a... Check out this report by @lolavkm.bsky.social

Apple, Google host dozens of AI ‘nudify’ apps like Grok, report finds

A tech watchdog organization found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store.

cnbc.com

NEW: Apple and Google ban apps that create sexualized images. But a new TTP report found dozens of “nudify” apps in the companies’ stores that can digitally remove the clothes from women, rendering them naked or in scant clothing.

TTP - Nudify Apps Widely Available in Apple and Google App Stores

Apple and Google ban apps that create sexualized images. But both companies offer dozens of apps that can strip the clothes off people.

techtransparencyproject.org

As Meta touts a new policy today to keep Teen Accounts safe, let’s not forget that even with its purported tight controls, harmful content still finds its way through. A TTP report last year found that this even included extremely violent fight content.

On Apple and Google’s failure to police their own app store rules, @lopatto.bsky.social notes that Apple’s promise to “protect” users is its basis for justifying its monopolistic control of the store. Yet Apple still fails, as TTP's recent report on apps for sanctioned entities demonstrated.

A judge rejected the appeal of an anti-government extremist who argued that his "boogaloo boi" Facebook activity shouldn't have been used to convict him in the 2020 killing of a federal officer. As TTP research showed, the boogaloo movement is inextricably linked to such activity.

NEW: Apple’s App Store hosts dozens of apps for U.S.-sanctioned entities, including Russian banks propping up Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and a Chinese paramilitary group linked to human rights abuses. TTP also found a smaller number in the Google Play Store (18 vs Apple’s 52).

In a new podcast, @thestar.com reporters Ben Mussett and Omar Mosleh talk about their report into Meta drug ads that led to them receiving cocaine and oxycodone in the mail. TTP’s research has shown the frequency of these ads, and their reporting paints a shocking picture of the real-world harm.

New court filings show that when a former Instagram exec joined the company in 2020, she was shocked at the company’s lax approach to sex trafficking activity and child safety. That same year, a TTP report documented how Facebook was widely used by predators to target children.

These revelations follow a TTP report from last month which showed scammers spending millions on Facebook ads that use deepfake videos of President Trump, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elon Musk, and other political figures to hawk fake government benefits. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/met...

TTP - Meta Awash in Deepfake Scam Ads

Scammers are spending heavily on Facebook ads that use deepfake videos of President Trump, Elon Musk, and other political figures to hawk fake government benefits.

techtransparencyproject.org

Reuters@reuters.com · 9mo ago

Meta's fraud problem: The social media giant projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, documents seen by @Reuters show reut.rs/4qJTpdH

NEW: Meta is using a range of influence tactics to counter growing concerns that social media platforms like Instagram can be harmful to teens’ health and safety. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...

TTP - Inside Meta’s Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media

As Meta comes under growing pressure over its impact on teens, it’s using a range of tactics to move the public narrative in a friendlier direction.

techtransparencyproject.org

NEW: a TTP report reveals how Google—which at one time spent the most on lobbying of any U.S. corporation—employed an obscure legal strategy that reduced the amount of lobbying spending it discloses under federal law by removing executive lobbying from disclosures.

Crypto miners and data centers got sweetheart energy deals in Texas, premised on the idea that boosted grid capacity could serve the state by being redirected in times of crisis. But now that a new law is set to make some emergency shutoffs mandatory, the industry has concerns.