Shares in U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms (META) shed 1% today as it takes a Hong Kong-based business to court for allegedly promoting nude apps on its sites.
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AI Abuse
Meta has filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong to stop Joy Timeline HK from advertising CrushAI apps on Facebook. The apps allow people to create AI-generated nude or sexually explicit images of individuals without their consent.
It comes just a week after hundreds of ads for the digital undressing apps were discovered on Meta’s Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Threads platforms by a CBS News investigation.
These online non-consensual sexual images can be used for sextortion, blackmail and abuse. Meta, which also owns Instagram, said it will now share information about ads, accounts and content that have been removed for promoting these so-called nudify apps with other technology companies.
In a post today, Meta said it was concerned by the growth of these apps. “With nudify apps being advertised across the internet — and available in App Stores themselves — removing them from one platform alone isn’t enough,” Meta said.
Protecting Children
Meta is under fire around the world for not doing enough to protect teenagers and young people. In Australia, a world-first ban on social media for under-16s will start this year, and other countries such as France and the U.K. are tightening content oversight.
But advertisers promoting these apps are resisting any crackdowns.
Meta said some are using benign images to evade detection, while others create new domain names to replace blocked websites. In response, Meta said it has developed technology to identify such ads.
It has also taken direct action. Last year, it removed 63,000 Instagram accounts involved in sextortion scams.
Is META a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, META has a Strong Buy consensus based on 42 Buy, 3 Hold and 1 Sell ratings. Its highest price target is $918. META stock’s consensus price target is $698.07 implying an 1.05% upside.
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