TikTok has banned 20 accounts after the BBC highlighted the use of AI-generated black female influencers to drive users to sites promoting sexually explicit content.
They are part of a growing trend of accounts on Instagram and TikTok that has been criticized as racist, exploitative and misleading because of racial tropes and language used.
The BBC and researchers from the independent AI publication Riddance found dozens of accounts on the two platforms featuring highly sexualized black female digital characters or avatars.
The images and videos were generated by AI but not labelled as such, in apparent breach of the platforms' guidelines.
Nearly all the accounts were on Instagram and about a third also had versions on TikTok. Instagram's parent company Meta told the BBC it was investigating, but did not say it had taken any action.
The avatars are often shown dressed in skimpy swimwear or other revealing clothing and portrayed with exaggerated body shapes.
Account names include terms such as black, noir, dark and ebony. Several include comments about white males in their posts, such as loves white men and why I need a white guy in my life. Many of the accounts follow or like each other.
The BBC, working in collaboration with analysts Jeremy Carrasco and Angel Nulani from Riddance, has identified 60 such accounts, mainly on Instagram, that have carried links, or chains of links, to paid-for sexually explicit content on third-party sites.
One of the accounts shut down by TikTok - though still operating on Instagram at the time of publication - has caused further anger by stealing videos from real people.
Presented as the account of a striking AI-generated character, it had amassed three million followers within a few weeks of its creation in December.
However, it modified and posted videos from genuine content creator Riya Ulan, a model based in Malaysia. I was angry, Riya told the BBC. Of course my videos are all out there… It doesn't mean that you can just take it and steal it and post it as your own.
Many viewers appear to treat the avatars as real, despite their unrealistic features. In posts or Instagram stories, some deny using AI, including the one that took Riya's content.
The BBC sent Meta and TikTok examples of the accounts identified and asked for their responses. Two days later, a TikTok spokesperson told the BBC the company had removed content and banned accounts that breach our rules. Within a few days, 20 accounts had been labelled banned on the app.
Meta said it was investigating the content brought to its attention.
