Meta ran ads for an app that made deepfake porn of politicians. Again.
A tool called Kromix bought ad space on Meta's platforms promising 'no restrictions' and showing a woman resembling a sitting US politician in a pornographic video. Meta's policies already ban this. They ran the ads anyway.
Key points
- Meta ran ads for an AI image tool called Kromix that generated deepfake pornographic videos featuring women resembling named US politicians, as first reported by Ars Technica.
- The ads explicitly stated the tool has "no restrictions" and that "all the characters are real people."
- Kromix was available on Apple's App Store at the time the ads ran.
- This is the latest in a series of failures by Meta to stop ads for nonconsensual intimate imagery tools appearing on its platforms.
- Meta's own advertising policies prohibit sexual content in ads.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, accepted and ran paid advertisements for an app that creates deepfakes, meaning fake videos generated by AI that make a real person appear to do or say something they never did. The app, Kromix, describes itself as an "AI image styler." The ads described it as having "no restrictions" and featuring "real people."
One ad showed a woman closely resembling a prominent female US politician standing in front of the American flag and the presidential flag. A caption read "What if she moved?" She winked. Then the video cut to a pornographic scene using the same face.
Does Meta have rules against this?
Yes, clearly. Meta's advertising policies ban sexual content. The ads ran anyway, which makes this less a gap in the rulebook and more a failure to enforce the rules that exist.
This is not a one-off. Meta has repeatedly failed to stop ads promoting tools that create nonconsensual intimate imagery, sometimes called NCII, from reaching its users. Advertisers keep buying the space. Meta keeps taking the money.
What does Kromix actually do?
The app invites paying users to upload photos of real people. It then places those faces into AI-generated video scenarios. The scenario categories listed inside the app include "bedroom rape."
Kromix was live on Apple's App Store until the outlet reporting this story contacted Apple for comment. Apple has since removed it. Requests sent to a contact address listed inside the app received no reply.
| Platform | Action taken |
|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook/Instagram) | Ran the ads; no public statement at time of reporting |
| Apple App Store | Removed Kromix after press inquiry |
| Kromix developers | Did not respond to requests for comment |
What does this mean for ordinary people?
If you are a woman in public life, or simply a woman whose photos exist online, tools like this are built specifically to use your face without your knowledge or consent. That is the product. The ad made that explicit.
For everyone else: seeing an ad on Facebook or Instagram does not mean the platform has vetted what it is selling. Meta earns money when ads run. The incentive to check carefully is weaker than the incentive to collect the fee.
What should you do?
One honest, doable thing: if you see an ad on any platform for an AI image or video tool that promises "no restrictions" or touts generating content featuring real people, report it using the platform's ad-reporting tool. Every report creates a paper trail that regulators and journalists can use.
Survivorship bias note: the tools that get caught are the ones bold enough to buy ads. Many similar apps operate quietly, without advertising at all.
