TikTok Under Fire: AI-Generated Scam Ads Flood Platform, Exposing Digital Trust Crisis

Another day, another platform failing its users. This time, it's TikTok in the hot seat, accused of letting a wave of AI-generated fake advertisements run rampant. The allegations point to a systemic failure in content moderation, where sophisticated deepfakes and synthetic media bypass safeguards to peddle everything from non-existent products to outright financial scams.

The Core of the Controversy

The issue isn't just a few bad ads slipping through. Reports suggest a coordinated exploitation of TikTok's ad systems, using artificial intelligence to create hyper-realistic, fraudulent promotions. These aren't your average low-effort spam; they're tailored, convincing, and designed to exploit user trust at scale. The platform's algorithms, praised for their addictive content delivery, now face scrutiny for potentially amplifying these deceptive campaigns.

A Warning for the Digital Ecosystem

This scandal transcends a single social media app. It's a stark reminder of the double-edged sword that is generative AI. The same technology driving creative innovation is being weaponized for fraud, eroding the foundational trust required for any digital community—or marketplace—to function. For an industry built on decentralized trust, that's a particularly bitter pill to swallow. It makes you wonder: if you can't trust what you see on a major platform, what *can* you trust online? Perhaps only the immutable, transparent ledger of a well-designed blockchain—but that's a conversation for another day.

The fallout serves as a brutal stress test for Web2's content governance models. Relying on post-facto takedowns and user reports is like bringing a broom to a cyberwar. As these AI tools become more accessible, the pressure mounts for platforms to deploy equally advanced, proactive detection. Until then, caveat emptor—let the buyer beware—is the only rule that matters. And in a twist that would make a Wall Street short-seller smirk, the most reliable 'AI' detecting these fakes might just be the old-fashioned human skepticism that the tech world so often tries to disrupt.

TikTok accused of aiding fake AI-generated ads

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, prioritized investments in artificial intelligence this year. At the beginning of the year, the Financial Times claimed that the company had plans to invest about $12 billion in AI chips across 2025.

In the same period, the popularity of AI-generated content on the platform has increased, with users deploying it in advertisements. However, over the last few weeks, there has been an influx of adverts concerning fake or misleading products on TikTok.

For example, there has been an increase in fake ads on the platform promoting the use of weight loss supplements and appetite suppression. These developments include ads for GLP-1 patches, which are marketed as weight loss aids, but do not contain actual GLP-1, which is found in drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

Others are adverts which claim to provide cures to cortisol belly and high-stress levels, resulting in weight gain.

In addition, many of these advertisements lead users to cloned websites, which in some cases impersonate legitimate online businesses. They feature unlawfully copied content for deceptive and malicious purposes.

In the case of these TikTok adverts, several legitimate pharmacies have been cloned to make it look like these fake products are being promoted by well-known and trusted retailers.

Calls for safeguards over the use of AI on social media platforms

In its advertising policies, TikTok outlaws behaviors that are misleading, inauthentic, and deceptive to protect integrity, authenticity, and safety for its users and the general public at large. The platform has also warned that engaging in such practices and patterns of abusing its policies WOULD see the accounts being suspended or banned permanently on the platform.

In terms of health, the platform has also moved to combat misinformation, which could contribute to the health crisis.

“To ensure that our community has access to accurate medical information to support well-informed health choices, we remove health misinformation relating to serious medical conditions or public health issues, or health misinformation that could lead to serious harm to individuals or discourage people from seeking proper medical care,” the company states.

Despite its policies, these AI-generated adverts promoting fake products are still rampant on TikTok.

The recent investment made by the company in AI means that these ads can now be produced using a dedicated tool created and developed by the application. The company allows users to deploy its “TikTok for Business” platform to create marketing campaigns, offering other aspects such as advertising tools, business accounts features, collaborations, and marketing strategies.

To help users carry out tasks, the platform hosts a chatbot assistant that helps people create and share advertisements based on what they are trying to sell.

Speaking about the development, Michael McGrath, the EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection Code, noted that there are rules in place in the EU when it comes to the use of AI across social media.

“We do need safeguards,” Mr McGrath said. “We have recently proposed new amendments to the act, and we aim to get the balance right. We have a good regulatory framework in place, but we need to ensure that the rulebook is enforced.”

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