An international network of spammers are posting AI-generated images of Holocaust victims on Facebook, a BBC investigation into 'AI slop' has found.
Organizations dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust say the images are leaving survivors and families distressed.
They have also criticized 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.
However, 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.
He added, 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 monetization (CM) program, an invite-only system that pays users for high-performing content and views.
One account, named Abdul Mughees, posted screenshots claiming to have earned $20,000 through social media monetization schemes, including Meta's. Another post appears to show the account accrued over 1.2 billion views on various content within four months.
Among the many Facebook posts from Mughees' account are AI-generated photos of fictional Holocaust victims and fake stories about children hiding under floorboards or babies left on train tracks outside a concentration camp.
The BBC's analysis reveals they are primarily posting what's termed 'AI slop', referring to low-quality AI-generated images and text, often produced en masse and spammed across social media.
Auschwitz has become a popular topic for history-themed pages and groups, with some posting more than 50 times a day.
In June, the Auschwitz Museum warned that accounts like these were stealing its posts, processing them through AI models, and often distorting historical details or fabricating narratives and victims entirely. The Museum described these images as a dangerous distortion that disrespects victims and harasses their memory.
Mr. Sawicki noted that the influx of fake images undermines the Auschwitz Memorial's mission to raise awareness of the Holocaust.
Survivors and families are also disturbed by the surge of Holocaust-related AI content. Dr. Robert Williams from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance expressed that survivors feel a sense of sadness that this situation has arisen despite efforts to promote awareness.
Meta, whilst not deliberately promoting false stories, incentivizes high engagement content, which has led to the proliferation of such posts. The BBC has identified similar accounts based in India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Nigeria.
Fazal Rahman, a Pakistani content creator, stated that history-related topics are reliable traffic drivers, and multiple creators are producing fake historical images and narratives, including the Holocaust, for profit.
In response to complaints, Meta has removed several accounts and groups associated with the troubling content while maintaining that many posts do not violate its content policies.
