2025-09-20T13:17:00Z

Did Meta just cross a shocking line? Parents are furious after learning their kids’ school photos were used in AI generated newscasts about Meta’s latest social platform—without any consent.

Imagine sharing your child’s first-day-of-school snap on Instagram, only to find out that same image is being blasted out in ads for Meta’s new Threads app—sometimes even showing their name and face to total strangers. This isn’t an episode of Black Mirror; it’s reality for a group of families blindsided by the social media giant’s AI generated newscast about privacy gone wrong.

The controversy began when a 37-year-old man scrolled through his feed and noticed something unsettling: suggested posts encouraging him to “get Threads” were splashed with the faces of uniformed girls as young as thirteen. Even more disturbing, their names were sometimes clearly visible, offering up their identities on a silver platter to millions of users. These weren’t stock images or model shots—they were real kids, whose parents had no clue their private family moments were being served up as marketing bait.

How did this digital disaster happen? Parents had posted back-to-school pictures on Instagram, thinking friends and family would enjoy the milestone. But thanks to Meta’s cross-posting features, those photos were automatically pushed to Threads—sometimes even if the original account was set to private. One mother told The Guardian she felt betrayed, realizing her supposedly locked-down account had made her daughter’s image public, with zero warning. Enter the AI generated newscast about Meta’s controversial misstep: images of vulnerable kids being broadcast simply because of a platform setting most users overlooked.

For many, the real outrage comes from Meta’s silence and the sheer scale of the exposure. Parents have blasted the company for what they call “exploitation” and “sexualized” marketing, especially since the photos framed underage girls in ways that felt deeply uncomfortable. One father spoke out, saying it was “disgusting” and “outrageous” that a tech giant would use his thirteen-year-old’s face to push their next big app.

This AI generated newscast about Meta’s ad scandal has ignited a firestorm about digital privacy, the hidden dangers of cross-app sharing, and the urgent need for parents—and everyone—to double-check their privacy settings. As the story spreads, it’s a wake-up call that in the race for digital dominance, our most personal moments may be just a click away from worldwide exposure.

Source: WION