International Spam Network Exploits Holocaust Imagery for Profit

Tue Oct 21 2025 06:50:33 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A BBC investigation exposes a network of spammers generating AI images of Holocaust victims, causing distress among survivors and families while profiting from engagement on Facebook.

A recent BBC investigation has uncovered a disturbing trend of spammers leveraging AI-generated images of Holocaust victims on social media platforms, particularly Facebook. These images, created to capture attention, distort historical narratives and commodify tragedy for profit, raising significant ethical concerns. Organizations focused on Holocaust remembrance are calling out tech giant Meta for its role in permitting such content to proliferate, ultimately causing distress amongst victims' families and surviving witnesses of the Holocaust.

An international network of spammers are posting AI-generated images of Holocaust victims on Facebook, a BBC investigation into AI slop has found.

Organisations dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust say the images are leaving survivors and families distressed. They have also criticised Facebook's parent company Meta, saying it allows users on its platform to turn the atrocity into an emotional game.

There are only a handful of genuine photos from inside the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War Two. But in recent months, AI spammers have posted fake images purporting to be from inside the camp, such as a prisoner playing a violin or lovers meeting at the boundaries of fences - attracting tens of thousands of likes and shares.

Here we have somebody making up the stories… for some kind of strange emotional game that is happening on social media, said Pawel Sawicki, a spokesperson for the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland. This is not a game. This is a real world, real suffering and real people that we want to and need to commemorate.

The BBC has tracked many of these images to the accounts of a network of Pakistan-based content creators who collaborate closely on how to make money on Facebook. They are gaming Meta's content monetisation (CM) program, which pays users for high-performing content and views. One account named Abdul Mughees claimed to have earned $20,000 through social media monetisation schemes.

Among the posts from Abdul Mughees' account are several AI-generated photos of fictional Holocaust victims and fake stories that included a child hiding under floorboards or a baby being left on train tracks outside a concentration camp.

The term AI slop refers to low-quality AI-generated images and text, usually produced in high volumes and spammed across social media. This has become a popular topic for history-themed pages and groups. In June, the Auschwitz Museum warned accounts were stealing its posts, processing them through AI models and often fabricating narratives and victims entirely.

According to Mr. Sawicki, the tsunami of fake images is undermining the Auschwitz Memorial's mission to raise awareness of the Holocaust. Survivors and families are disturbed by this trend, with some feeling a certain sadness regarding the lack of control over their stories.

The BBC's investigation highlights the need for greater scrutiny and responsibility from platforms like Meta in addressing the propagation of such misleading and harmful content.