Hidden in plain sight, adult ads are flooding social media
While scrolling through Facebook or Instagram feeds, you might come across ads featuring nude or nearly nude images, inviting you to watch “hot and sexy videos” or buy products to enhance your sexual pleasure. These ads can be embarrassing if they appear in front of family members or children, or they may lure users into subscribing to explicit content, undermining the platform’s safety for users of all ages.
What many don’t realize is that such advertisements are not only illegal under Bangladeshi law but also violate Meta’s own advertisement policies. Yet, research by Dismislab found hundreds of these ads running daily on Meta platforms, evading its automated detection system while promoting pornographic content, sexual enhancement products, and misleading clickbait links designed to exploit Ad Arbitrage—a practice where advertisers buy cheap traffic and redirect users to other sites for profit.
In just one week from January 29 and February 4, 2025, Dismislab found 322 active advertisements targeting Bangladeshi users that violate Meta’s ads standards on sexual solicitation and sexually explicit language, adult products or services, and adult nudity and sexual activity. The actual number is likely higher, as this analysis is limited only to image-based ads. These ads were identified by searching the Meta Ad Library using eight related keywords, yielding thousands of content, from which 1,657 visual-based ads were sampled for detailed review by the researchers.
The extent to which these ads impact or engage users remains unknown, as Meta’s Ad Library does not provide engagement data for commercial ads, and while it allows access to the actual ad content, it does not show how the ads appear organically in users’ feeds or how audiences react to them. It is also impossible to determine the total number of such ads, as they are only visible in the Ad Library while they remain active. However, more than 50 pages, often lacking transparency, are running these ads and spending thousands of dollars to promote adult products and clickbait links to generate profit.
Pornographic ads, shady pages and ad arbitrage
On any given day, a search for the Bangla keyword “Sexy Video” in Meta’s Ad Library will return 100 to 200 results for Bangladesh, as observed during the research. These ads typically lure users with promises of access to pornographic content. The format is often the same: a brief caption alongside a promotional graphic featuring hazy or suggestive images of nude or semi-nude women. The overlaid text reads, “Tonight’s sexy video,” “Sexy videos of mature women,” or “Want to date me? You can do anything,” with buttons urging users to “Watch now”.
Meta’s policy on adult sexual solicitation and sexually explicit language states that ads must not contain any content that facilitates sexual encounters, commercial sexual services between adults, or content asking for or offering pornographic content. The platform also places restrictions on the use of sexually explicit language in advertisements. However, of the ads analyzed, 102 were offering such content, evading detection, and two-thirds of them violated Meta’s adult nudity and sexual activity policy.
Meta’s policy on adult nudity and sexual activity prohibits ads featuring images that emphasize women’s breasts, buttocks, or specific body parts, as well as depictions that imitate sexual activity. However, findings show multiple ads violating this rule by featuring sexually suggestive poses, exaggerated emphasis on body parts, and scenes resembling clothed sexual activity. Some ads go further, displaying male genitalia, sexual intercourse, and intimate gestures explicitly violating Meta’s guidelines.
Most of the pornographic ads found in the research contained links, shortened using URL shorteners. These links redirected users to different types of websites. For this study, Dismislab analyzed 20 URLs from the ads to identify common patterns. The findings suggest a business model based on ad arbitrage and affiliate marketing, where advertisers buy Facebook Ads at a low cost and then monetize users through high-paying ad networks like Google AdSense, Taboola, or Outbrain. (For example, if they pay $0.10 per Facebook ad and earn $0.50 per ad click on their site, they make a profit of $0.40 per user.)
Each URL contained multiple unrelated keywords such as “Watch Films Online Free Streaming,” “Adult Only,” “Best Dating App Over 50,” “live erotic video,” “Laser Eye Surgery in Taiwan,” and “Advertise on Streaming TV”. This indicates that these links use dynamic keyword insertion to attract a wide range of audiences. Once a user clicks the link, the site may analyze browser cookies, IP addresses, and device data to determine their interests, location, and browsing behavior. Based on this, it can redirect them to different landing pages, leading them to watch more ads or sign up for streaming and adult content platforms that pay commissions per registration—often exposing them to subscription traps.
As observed, most links contain the “pxfb[id]” and “pxfb[ec]=Purchase” parameters indicating Facebook Pixel tracking, meaning the site is running Facebook Ads and tracking conversions (purchases or sign-ups). The use of URL parameters like “clickid” and “campaign.id” suggests a tracking system for performance-based advertising. This technique also helps evade detection, as the final destination of the link changes dynamically, making it harder for platforms like Facebook to track violations consistently.
The pages running these ads are as shady as they come. Among the 19 pages that ran the 102 ads using such techniques that we analyzed, none had ever posted any content other than a profile picture, indicating they were created solely for advertising purposes. Most of these pages were set up recently, between late 2024 and early 2025, and have an average of just 300 page likes. Their names are also unusual, with patterns like “Happy3,” “HAPPY-shop,” “Happy Video,” “Tinder-3,” or “Local Services”—suggesting they are randomly generated or deliberately obscure to avoid detection. None of them include contact details in the transparency section either, making it difficult to track them down.
Ads offering adult products or services
Meta’s advertising policies place clear restrictions on content related to sexual pleasure, enhancement products, and sexually explicit language to maintain a safe and inclusive environment. While ads promoting reproductive health, family planning, and certain medical solutions are allowed under strict conditions, 220 of the reviewed ads related to such products attempted to bypass these policies by disguising their intent through misleading claims, vague language, and unrealistic promises.
One of the most common violations is the advertisement of sexual enhancement products, including gels, sprays, and powders that claim to increase stamina, prolong intercourse, or enlarge body parts. While erectile dysfunction (ED) treatments and premature ejaculation solutions are allowed if framed as medical solutions, the promoted products, such as “Nature Mania LIFT-UP Spray” or “Size Gain Oil,” often make unverified claims about their ability to drastically improve sexual performance, which directly violates Meta’s prohibition against marketing items that focus on sexual pleasure rather than medical treatment. Ads frequently featured sensationalized text, such as “Make your partner beg for more,” or exploited emojis like 🍆 (eggplant) and 🍑 (peach), which have become symbols of sexual innuendo in digital communication.
Another clear pattern involves ads for personal lubricants and supplements, such as “TONO HIME” or “ZARA GEL,” which are often marketed not for legitimate medical use but rather for “enhancing pleasure,” “making partners addicted,” or “creating an unforgettable night.” Meta permits lubricants for medical or wellness purposes, such as relief from pain during intercourse or menopause-related discomfort, but many of these ads frame their products in a way that emphasizes intimacy and eroticism rather than health benefits.
These pages running ads for adult products follow a clear pattern. Across the 30 pages identified, most have admin locations in Bangladesh and frequently advertise a mix of health-related products. Many of these pages also appear interconnected, promoting identical products from the same companies, sometimes even using slight variations of the same name.
For example, pages like “TONO HIM,” “TONO HIM BD,” and “Tono Hime Shop”—all three appear to be part of the same network, selling nearly identical products under slightly different branding. A similar trend is seen with “Japani Bangla Shop,” “Japani Medi Care,” and “Japani Products Shop”— all of which feature uniform advertising strategies and product promotions.
Some of these pages take it a step further, including direct links to external websites, email addresses, and phone numbers to connect with potential buyers beyond Meta’s platform. While most of these pages were created in 2024 and have an average of 800 page likes, one stands out—“Ayurvedic Doctor Chamber”—which has garnered 95,000 followers, with a significantly wider reach compared to the others.
How advertisers bypass detection
Advertisers often bypass Meta’s automated content moderation by altering keywords and embedding text within images to avoid detection. Instead of using explicit terms, they are seen to modify words by adding special characters, spaces, or alternative spellings. For example, sex appears as “sex” with an italic “e” or “সে*ক্স”, the Bangla spelling of sex using an “*”, and condom as “ক/ন/ড/ম” to evade filters. Many ads rely on images with Bangla text instead of written captions, making it harder for Meta’s system to flag violations.
Ads also use hazy or small images that remain suggestive but avoid triggering automated filters. Some embed text directly into images rather than in the ad copy, preventing Meta’s system from scanning it. Others use AI-generated or animated visuals that hint at explicit content without violating policy. Clickbait-style graphics are common, featuring blurry or semi-clothed figures with captions suggesting adult content to lure users into engaging.
To avoid direct linking violations, advertisers use shortened URLs, cloaking techniques, and dynamic redirects. Clicking the link may first lead to a neutral page before redirecting to adult product stores or other restricted content. When an ad page gets flagged, new ones with similar names quickly replace it, ensuring the ads continue running despite enforcement efforts.
Despite clear legal prohibitions under Bangladesh’s Pornography Control Act, 2012, which criminalizes the production, distribution, and advertisement of pornography, and Section 292 of the Penal Code, 1860, which restricts the sale or display of obscene materials, these ads continue to circulate on Meta’s platforms. Running such advertisements is punishable by up to seven years in prison, along with fines. However, the large volume of active ads promoting adult content suggests a lack of enforcement and oversight, both from the local authorities and Meta’s content moderation system. The failure to curb these violations not only undermines regulatory efforts but also exposes users—including minors—to inappropriate and misleading content.
