Brazilian actress sues Facebook over AI-faked beauty ads

By Tom Whitfield

Brazilian actress Flávia Alessandra has sued Facebook Brasil after manipulated advertisements used her face and voice, without authorization, to promote a purported skin rejuvenation product on the platform. The case is before the 39th Civil Court of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Justice (TJRJ).

The ads used artificial intelligence to alter clips from a podcast appearance. In the doctored videos, the actress appears to thank a doctor for the results of the product. Alessandra says she does not know the treatment, never recorded the commercial, and never authorized use of her image or voice.

The stakes go beyond embarrassment. Alessandra argued the fake ads could damage her credibility and her advertising contracts. For a performer whose income depends on brand endorsements, an unauthorized endorsement is a direct commercial threat.

What does Facebook say?

Facebook told the court the three challenged ads were already unavailable. It disputed responsibility for content published by third parties and said handing over user data requires a specific court order.

The company also narrowed the scope of what it must provide. Its legal storage obligation, Facebook argued, covers only access records such as IP address, date and time. It does not necessarily extend to CPF numbers, phone numbers, addresses or the payment data behind the ads.

That distinction matters. Payment and identity data would point to who funded the campaign. Access logs alone may not.

What is the actress asking for?

In her final arguments, Alessandra acknowledged the videos had been taken down. She kept her core demand: that Facebook identify the account holder behind the ads.

The requested data set includes:

• Name, email and phone number
• IP address and originating logical port
• Date and time of each publication

The goal is to enable potential liability claims against whoever actually ran the campaign. Takedown alone, her filing implies, leaves the responsible party anonymous and free to try again.

Alessandra also wants Facebook to bear court costs and legal fees. Her argument: the company did not remove the ads after receiving an extrajudicial notice, forcing her into litigation.

Why the case matters for marketers

The dispute lands as AI tools make convincing celebrity deepfakes cheap and fast. Alessandra's case shows the enforcement gap: platforms can remove offending ads but resist disclosing who paid for them, leaving the injured party to fight on two fronts — the unknown advertiser and the platform holding the records.

A ruling forcing Facebook to hand over identity and payment data would give Brazilian public figures a clearer path to pursue the source of synthetic-media fraud, not just its distribution. The 39th Civil Court's decision on the disclosure request will be the one to watch.