UK Watchdog Bans AI App Ads for Promoting Objectification of Women

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has banned a series of social media advertisements for AI apps that were found to promote the creation of sexually explicit content and the objectification of women. The ASA identified five ads on Meta platforms that objectified and sexualized women, utilizing harmful gender stereotypes. One ad featured sexualized images of a girl under 18 to promote an AI companion app, while others encouraged users to upload images of their 'crush' to create 'sizzling' videos. Meta has since removed these ads. Nicky Baker of the ASA stated that such content could lead to real-world harm, emphasizing the importance of regulating ads that may cause serious or widespread offense. The ASA noted that many of the banned ads promoted the creation of sexually explicit content using real women's images without their consent. This action follows the recent UK legislation prohibiting apps that create non-consensual deepfake nude imagery, which was prompted by concerns over a chatbot on X that complied with requests to modify images of women. The ASA indicated that future ads would be evaluated based on both the new law and its own regulations. The ads were identified through the ASA's AI-powered 'Active Ad Monitoring System', which searches for potential violations of UK advertising rules. The ASA found that the ads irresponsibly depicted women and were likely to offend. One ad for an AI companion generator, developed by Animcha Ltd, was criticized for sexualizing a character portrayed as underage. Other ads for AI tools, such as Nexaipic and KH31 DD22, encouraged users to create sexually explicit content. The ASA reported that none of the app creators responded to its inquiries. Baker stated that the ASA is taking a proactive stance against such advertisements as part of a zero-tolerance approach. Meta has previously faced scrutiny for similar ads and has removed over 344,000 ads for nudifying apps across its platforms between November 2025 and January 2026.