FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2026

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 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 Tech Transparency Project (TTP) investigation.

TTP found GatherOne’s fingerprints on thousands of ads for AI apps that can digitally undress women or put them into pornographic videos.

The findings suggest Meta is tolerating policy violations by GatherOne, which is one of its principal ad agency partners in the lucrative Chinese market. The report also highlights Meta’s role in the spread of nudify apps that can be used to create nonconsensual sexualized images, contributing to exploitation and psychological harm.

Read TTP’s report.

“Meta claims to remove accounts that violate its policy on nudify apps, but appears to be making an exception for one of its hand-picked partners in China. Meta should not enforce its rules selectively in order to preserve access to Chinese ad dollars,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of Campaign for Accountability, which runs TTP.

GatherOne is one of roughly a dozen Chinese ad agency firms authorized by Meta to place ads on behalf of Chinese clients. Because China blocks Facebook and Instagram inside the country, Chinese advertisers who want to use Meta platforms to reach foreign audiences must go through one of these intermediary firms.

But TTP found GatherOne listed as an advertiser and payer on thousands of ads promoting AI nudify apps. Many of the ads contained explicit imagery, showing women undressing or simulating sex acts.

The ads violate Meta’s ban on promoting AI nudify apps, and their content often violates Meta standards on nudity, sexual activity, and sexually suggestive content. Many of the ads appear to be run by fake accounts, which would also violate Meta’s policy against inauthentic behavior.

While Meta has removed a large number of the network’s ads, it appears to have chosen to allow the network to continue to exist—and regenerate. This may reflect the company’s desire to keep tapping into the massive Chinese advertising market, regardless of the impact on users.

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.