Attorney General Mayes Pushes Meta to Act on Misleading AI Weight Loss Ads

PHOENIX – Attorney General Mayes and a coalition of 35 bipartisan attorneys general called on Meta to better enforce its own policies about pharmaceutical and wellness ads on Instagram and Facebook and take additional measures to prevent AI-generated weight loss content in ads. These ads are likely to see an uptick during the holiday season and the new year, when conversations around weight loss and appearance tend to increase.

"Meta has a responsibility to take down these clearly fraudulent ads. We're simply urging them to enforce their own policies and take common-sense steps against misleading and dangerous AI-generated weight loss content" said Attorney General Mayes. 

GLP-1 weight loss drugs have exploded in popularity over the last few years, as have ads selling the drugs directly to consumers. Dozens of companies are using Meta’s advertising tools to run thousands of ads promoting GLP-1 drugs, most of which are non-FDA approved or compounded. 

Meta has existing policies on pharmaceutical and health and wellness ads – but it’s not sufficiently enforcing them. Advertisers are supposed to share information about the medical effectiveness and affordability of drugs, only target adults, and not run ads that push a “perfect” body type or foster unhealthy body images.

But the ads on Meta’s platforms capitalize on people’s dissatisfaction with their bodies and promote weight loss as a tool for self-confidence, desirability, and social mobility – not health. Many ads use body close-ups and side-by-side comparisons and promote weight loss for milestones like the holiday season, weddings, birthdays, and vacations. These ads claim that the drugs will help with rapid weight loss without disclosing the risks and side effects of these medications.

Often, these ads use unlabeled AI-generated content including fake before and after images and nonexistent spokespeople. One ad shows an AI-generated model losing 208 pounds in three weeks. Others use fake AI-created law enforcement officers, nurses, and pharmacists to support their weight loss claims.

In addition to enforcing its existing policies, the attorneys general are asking Meta to:

• Restrict prescription drug ads in the United States to only those that are FDA-approved.
• Require content promoting weight loss products to clearly disclose the risks and potential side effects.
• Prohibit weight loss drug ads that use AI- generated content.
• Label AI-generated content more clearly and develop better tools to detect and remove content that isn’t properly labeled.
• Redirect people to safety and educational resources for weight loss products when they search for those products.

Attorney General Mayes is joined by sending this letter by the Attorneys General of North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

A copy of the letter is available here.