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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The ad directed users to a virtual private network app in the Google Play Store. The implication is that the VPN can be used to view child sexual abuse material. The app showed it has been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

One of these Chinese resellers—which ran an ad featuring a girl naked from the waist down in a sexual position—was once featured by Meta as a “success story,” with Meta boasting that the firm "helps clients enhance brand awareness, expand market share, and increase sales..."

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Later that year, Meta introduced “Teen Accounts,” which it claimed would offer young people a way to use Instagram safely and offer “peace of mind” to parents. But research from TTP and others demonstrated that the accounts failed to achieve that goal.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

In light of Meta’s $17 billion settlement over harms to children its products have caused, let’s take a look back at some of the specific ways that Facebook and Instagram have impacted kids. 🧵

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

TTP’s investigation found Meta repeating this same influencer playbook across Asia and the Middle East, including in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

In Australia, which was the first country to pass a social media ban for kids under 16, Meta has repeatedly used this strategy to promote its Teen Accounts. In New Zealand, which is weighing its own ban, Meta has launched similar campaigns.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Reports point to online misinfo—including fake claims of open borders—for the recent surge of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. This mirrors TTP research that found misinfo leading many migrants to put themselves in danger when trying to cross into the US.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Meta claimed that some of the ads were published before it rolled out what it described as new AI tech that can better detect and block violative content. But others were published after—including a group of new ads TTP discovered after Meta had already been alerted.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The content of the ads was extremely disturbing and obviously violated Meta’s policies against CSAM, as well as policies against nudity and sexual activity more generally.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

GatherOne has actually highlighted “AI girlfriend” apps as an ad success story, noting they are popular in places like the U.S. and Europe, where Westerners prefer “customized” AI that combines “localized AI sexy women and localized language.”

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

GatherOne is one of roughly a dozen Chinese ad agencies authorized by Meta to place ads on behalf of Chinese clients. Because China blocks FB and IG inside the country, Chinese advertisers using Meta to reach foreign audiences must go through one of these intermediary firms.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

One app, BAfter, featured a "ShareZone" of explicitly pornographic AI face swaps created by other users. TTP didn't look at all the images, but at least 6 Google Play user reviews on the app said people had created sexual images of kids. One reviewer flagged “ILLEGAL CHILD PORN.”

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

TTP found GatherOne’s fingerprints on thousands of ads for AI apps that can digitally undress women or put them into pornographic videos. Many of the ads contained explicit imagery, showing women undressing or simulating sex acts.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Earlier this month, YouTube removed hundreds of videos promoting a sanctioned Russian drone factory, which had been posted on 100s of channels totaling 500 million subscribers. This comes weeks after a TTP report exposed dozens of YT channels for US-sanctioned Iranian entities.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Yesterday, the San Francisco City Attorney demanded that Apple and Google remove 13 AI face-swapping apps capable of creating nonconsensual nude images. The action follows multiple TTP reports showing the companies hosting—and at times even promoting—“nudify” apps on their stores.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The AP’s review of satellite imagery found scammers working in remote areas of Myanmar, far from where law enforcement typically operates – making it harder to crack down on these scam centers locally.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Last year, a TTP report showed how Meta platforms were awash with scam ads that deployed AI-generated deepfakes to prey on users. Now, a new @apnews.com investigation details how many other US tech products—like AI and Starlink—fit into global scam operations. apnews.com/article/scam...

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

A @homelandcbp.bsky.social rep told @wired.com that its ads were placed by “a third-party contractor working with Google.” A rep for CrowdStrike, which had an ad featured on one channel, emphasized to TTP that ad placements "are determined by the platform's automated systems, not [ad buyers]."

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Many of the ads were for household brands such as Subaru, Verizon, TurboTax, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Ozempic. In one case, an ad encouraging people to apply for jobs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection ran in a channel for Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

The channels include an Iranian special forces unit accused of using lethal force on protesters, an official who threatened U.S. troops in the region, a drug trafficker accused of targeting dissidents for assassination, and more. YouTube ran ads in all of the channels.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

This week, Meta announced policy changes to limit “how frequently teenagers are shown posts about topics like nutrition, weightlifting, and anxiety.” Meta has long struggled to protect kids on its platform, often failing to enforce the new policies it purports to roll out.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

TTP’s Katie Paul explained to @404media.co that the normalization that comes with Apple allowing ads for the app may lead young people to the belief that using it to create sexual deepfakes is somehow sanctioned or ok.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

A new piece by @samleecole.bsky.social looks at the fallout after a boy created nonconsensual sexual AI deepfakes of his female classmates. The images were generated in an app called Movely—one tested by TTP in our April report, and available for download in the Apple App Store at the time.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Faced with an onslaught of whistleblower revelations and lawsuits alleging it knowingly harmed children, Meta has responded by heavily marketing its Instagram child safety features. One influencer told TTP that they felt “manipulated” by Meta.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

TTP research found that an Instagram teen account with safety features turned on was surfacing and auto-playing videos of the graphic Charlie Kirk shooting when the teen account user simply searched Kirk’s name. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

TTP’s report also identifies multiple doctors and psychologists who have promoted the Teen Accounts and have a paid partnership with Meta. Their endorsements contrast with reports that the Teen Accounts fail to protect young users from harmful content. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Many influencers then turn around and deliver that same message to their followers, in Instagram Reels and Stories that reach millions of parents. Some signal the financial relationship with Meta by using hashtags like #MetaPartner or #InstagramPartner.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

In recent years, Meta has invited scores of “momfluencers” with large Instagram followings to glossy events around the country, where they hear about the Teen Accounts and their safety features for 13- to 17-year-olds.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

This isn’t the 1st time a sanctioned entity complained of X removing benefits following TTP research. After X removed Premium from the account for former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the account lamented the loss of the feature enabling long posts.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Curiously, this post and subsequent posts clearly exceed the 280-character limit for non-Premium posts—raising questions about whether X has just cosmetically removed the blue check, or actually rescinded any benefits.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

In his post, he referred to the fees paid to X as “*our* full Premium+ payments”—suggesting that it was the Iranian government, not him in an individual capacity, that was making the payments.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

This week, X stripped the blue check from the account of Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. This comes months after a TTP report identified his account as one of many blue-check accounts for Iranian gov officials subject to US sanctions.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

In an apparent response to critics, he issued a statement insisting the campaign “is not about wearables,” saying that they are only “one option” which may not be for everyone.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Apple is the only company that disclosed lobbying Congress on the measure since it was introduced, and the Apple-aligned trade group ACT - The App Association and its Connected Health Initiative publicly campaigned for its passage.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Apple spent a record $10mil to lobby DC policymakers in 2025. Disclosures show it started lobbying HHS on the health features of its products in Q2, just ahead of Kennedy’s June 2025 announcement that HHS would “launch one of the biggest ad campaigns" to encourage wearable use.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

TTP also recorded the autocomplete search suggestions that Apple and Google made as we typed in the different search terms. In many cases, the app stores recommended entirely new search queries that led to more nudify apps.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Two of TTP’s searches in the Google Play Store produced a “Suggested for You” carousel of sponsored apps mid-way through the top ten results. This is one of the advertised apps.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Apple and Google ran ads for nudify and undressing apps in some of the search results. Here are some that popped up in the Apple App Store.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Other preset companion bots in the app looked like pre-teen or teen girls.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Several of the apps that came up in search results offered AI companion chatbots. One app offered preset bots, including a woman in a black leather corset and horns named “Seraphine” and a woman in a silver mini-dress named “Naomi.”

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Another app that came up in an App Store search for “undress” would strip the clothes off a woman in a photo. The app required payment to deblur the resulting image, but a thumbnail showed the woman naked.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

This app, which came up in an Apple App Store search for “nudify,” would remove a woman's top in response to a prompt. (To test the apps, TTP used AI-generated photos of fake women.)

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Although Facebook claimed after TTP’s report that it has reduced scams significantly, Katie points out that TTP has encountered both “new advertisers from the same scam networks” and “new pages running identical ads.”

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

NEW: @aarp.org bulletin digs into the danger of online scams that are increasingly made worse by the growing role of AI. The article includes an examination of TTP’s research on the prevalence of deepfake scam ads on Meta platforms targeting older Americans.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Funding groups like the PTA is just one of Meta's many image improvement tactics. Another that TTP highlighted is the creation of a unit called the Trust, Transparency and Control Labs to publish reports about research and consultations that went into Meta's kid-focused efforts.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

PTA President Yvonne Johnson also personally supplied a positive quote for Meta's rollout of its "Instagram Teen Accounts." The announcement did not mention that Meta is a corporate sponsor of the group.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Before this recent severing of ties, the National PTA collaborated with Meta on a parent’s guide to Instagram, and held a series of Meta-sponsored events across the country to promote the Instagram teen features.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

NEW: Following TTP’s August 2025 report on how Meta funds and uses groups like the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to help shift the narrative around its products’ impact on kids, the PTA has announced an end to its Meta partnership—citing “heightened public scrutiny.”

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

TTP found one of the Iranian government officials who appeared to subscribe to X premium was also using X’s tips feature to request tips in bitcoin, another potential sanctions violation.

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Tech Transparency Project @ttp-updates.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

The practice also appears to violate X’s own policy, which explicitly prohibits users subject to OFAC sanctions from using its paid services, including premium. archive.ph/k09AZ#select...

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