AI app ads banned for explicit content
Advertising watchdog bans five apps for objectifying women and creating sexualised material.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned several social media advertisements for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The watchdog found the ads irresponsible, likely to cause serious or widespread offence by objectifying and sexualising women, and promoting the creation of sexually explicit content.
Specific Ad Concerns
The banned advertisements included those for tyan.ai, Nexaipic, KH31 DD22, Rusto AI, and PictoPop. For tyan.ai, an ad presented a female character for users to 'customise' with sexualised imagery, including a portrayal of someone appearing under 18 in a sexual manner. Nexaipic's ads encouraged users to upload photographs of women to create 'seductive' sexually explicit videos for personal gratification. KH31 DD22 showed a clothed woman being transformed into a topless image, suggesting the app could create content exposing women's bodies. Rusto AI's ad encouraged the creation of sexualised videos from photographs and condoned the digital manipulation of women's images without consent. PictoPop used sexualised imagery, including a woman in a subordinate position, to demonstrate its tool.
In its rulings, the ASA stated that many of the ads actively promoted the creation of sexually explicit content using women's images without their consent. The authority emphasised that there is no place for such content in advertising and firm action would be taken.
Regulatory Action and Legal Changes
The ASA identified these advertisements using its AI-powered active ad monitoring system. During the course of the ASA's investigations, the law was updated to make the supply of AI 'nudification' apps a criminal offence.
“Encouraging and condoning the objectification of women and the creation of explicit content from people’s images has the potential to cause real-world harm. That’s why we’ve taken proactive action through these rulings and why we have a zero-tolerance approach where we see ads like these.”
Nicky Baker, ASA regulatory projects manager, stated that the watchdog takes a firm line on ads likely to cause serious or widespread offence. She added that encouraging the objectification of women and the creation of explicit content from images has the potential to cause real-world harm, and the ASA has a zero-tolerance approach to such advertising.
Questions this report answers
01Which AI apps had their ads banned?
The Advertising Standards Authority banned ads for five AI apps: tyan.ai, Nexaipic, KH31 DD22, Rusto AI, and PictoPop. These apps were found to be promoting the creation of sexually explicit content and objectifying women.
02Why were the AI app ads banned?
The ads were banned because they were deemed irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence. They objectified and sexualised women, and promoted the creation of sexually explicit content, sometimes using images without consent.
03What is the legal status of AI 'nudification' apps?
The law changed during the ASA's investigations to make the supply of AI 'nudification' apps a criminal offence. This means providing such applications is now against the law.
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