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The rise of fake AI influencers sexualising black women | BBC News
Posted
March 23, 2026
Views
35,962
Likes
475
Comments
242
Engagement
1.99%
March 23, 2026
35,962
475
242
1.99%
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4:05Now PlayingTikTok has banned 20 accounts after the BBC highlighted the use of AI-generated black female influencers to drive users to sites to promote sexually explicit content.
BBC Arabic’s Sharihan Al-Akhras has been investigating this rise in fake AI influencers and spoke to model Riya, who found that one of these accounts had modified her videos - garnering millions of views.
Nearly all the accounts were on Instagram and about a third also had versions on TikTok. The BBC sent Meta and TikTok examples of the accounts we identified, and asked for their responses. Instagram's parent company Meta told the BBC it was investigating, but did not say it had taken any action.
The BBC contacted TikTok with examples of these accounts and the company said it had removed content and banned accounts that broke its rules.
TikTok says it “prohibits AI generated content of individuals used without their permission, we have zero tolerance for content which promotes off-platform sexual services, and we have removed content and banned accounts which breach our rules.”
Instagram’s parent company Meta says: “We are investigating the content brought to our attention. We want people to know when they see posts that have been made with AI. In 2024, we announced a new approach for labelling AI-generated content. An important part of this approach relies on industry standard indicators that other companies include in content created using their tools, which help us assess whether something is created using AI.”
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