ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL CALLS ON META TO REMOVE MISLEADING AI WEIGHT LOSS ADS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL CALLS ON META TO REMOVE MISLEADING AI WEIGHT LOSS ADS

December 17, 2025

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 35 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.

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.

"Millions of Americans are looking for help losing weight, and they deserve to know the potential risks and side effects associated with any medications they are considering," Raoul said. "Some advertisers are attempting to prey on insecurity around weight, often using A.I.-generated images to portray fake weight loss results. These ads are failing to protect the health and safety of consumers. I'm calling on Meta to enforce its own policies and remove these irresponsible, misleading and, at times, dangerous advertisements for GLP-1 weight loss drugs from its social media platforms."

In their letter, Raoul and the attorneys general note that Meta has existing policies on pharmaceutical and health and wellness ads, but they argue that the company is not sufficiently enforcing them. Under Meta's policies, advertisers are supposed to share information about the medical effectiveness and affordability of drugs, target only adults, and not run ads that promote a "perfect" body type or foster unhealthy body images.

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 calling on 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 Raoul is joined in sending this bipartisan letter by the Attorneys General of North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, 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.