Senator Raised Question to Meta on Ads Encouraging Deepfake Abuse App

The U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)—a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has raised a serious question to Meta CEO. The questions are based on how Meta is playing a critical role in managing traffic to “Crushmate” or “Crush AI,” an app that allows users to generate non-consensual deepfake explicit images. However, Durbin questions Mark Zuckerberg about how his company enables some intimate ads for the app on its platforms. 

Durbin also showed concern that up to 90% of Crush’s traffic initiates from Meta’s forums, directly via Instagram and Facebook. Even the app supposedly manipulated Meta’s ad system by generating fabricated advertiser profiles with AI generated images and utilizing various domains to fool detection. During the first two weeks of 2025, at least 8,010 ads for Crush ran on Meta’s forum, instantly breaching the company’s Advertising levels. Such guidelines restrict the ads that show adult content, explicit activities, and harassment

According to Durbin’s letter, the risks of deepfake-generated apps, discuss its influence on victims. However, various schools in the United States are witnessing emerging cases of picture-driven abuse, with many students generating and spreading exploited content without their consent. Victims usually face huge emotional distress that involves anxiety, depression, and reputational damage. Some issues have led many students to suicide. 

Moreover, the senator demanded quick action, criticizing its lapse to protect such dangerous ads. He also mentioned the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 (DEFIANCE Act)— an inclusive bill that has the purpose of punishing perpetrators. Though this bill has been approved by the Senate but got stuck in the Republican-controlled House. Durbin reaffirmed his determination to fight against digital abuse and requested Meta to concentrate on keeping users secure by blocking the expansion of dangerous deepfake technology.