Meta is suing the Hong Kong-based maker of the app CrushAI, a platform capable of creating sexually explicit deepfakes, claiming that it repeatedly circumvented the social media company’s rules to purchase ads.
The suit is part of what Meta (META) described as a wider effort to crack down on so-called “nudifying” apps — which allow users to create nude or sexualized images from a photo of someone’s face, even without their consent — following claims that the social media giant was failing to adequately address ads for those services on its platforms.
As of February, the maker of CrushAI, also known as Crushmate and by several other names, had run more than 87,000 ads on Meta platforms that violated its rules, according to the complaint Meta filed in Hong Kong district court Thursday.
Meta alleges the app maker, Joy Timeline HK Limited, violated its rules by creating a network of at least 170 business accounts on Facebook or Instagram to buy the ads. The app maker also allegedly had more than 55 active users managing over 135 Facebook pages where the ads were displayed. The ads primarily targeted users in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“Everyone who creates an account on Facebook or uses Facebook must agree to the Meta Terms of Service,” the complaint states.