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, listed as living in Pakistan, posted screenshots claiming to have earned $20,000 through social media monetisation schemes, including Meta's. Another post appears to show the account accrued more than 1.2 billion views on content across four months.
Among the many Facebook 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 BBC's analysis of the online activities of the account and dozens of others like it suggests they are posting almost exclusively AI slop, referring to low-quality AI-generated images and text, usually produced en masse and spammed across social media.
Auschwitz has become a popular topic for history-themed pages and groups. Some with names such as Timeless Tales and History Haven were posting over 50 times a day.
In June, the Auschwitz Museum warned accounts like these were stealing its posts, processing them through AI models and often warping historical details or fabricating narratives and victims entirely. In a Facebook post, the Museum said these images were a dangerous distortion which disrespects victims and harasses their memory.
Mr Sawicki said the tsunami of fake images was undermining the Auschwitz Memorial's mission to raise awareness of the Holocaust.
Survivors and families are also disturbed by the surge of Holocaust AI slop, according to Dr Robert Williams from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, who noted that survivors feel a certain sense of sadness this has been allowed to happen despite various awareness campaigns.
Meta does not intentionally encourage users to post false stories about the Holocaust. Their system rewards content with high engagement, and the investigation found similar AI slop accounts based in several countries, including India and Nigeria.
To understand why these networks are mass-producing specific content types, the BBC spoke with a Pakistani man, Fazal Rahman, who operates in the same Facebook groups as those who create Holocaust-related content.
Mr Rahman acknowledged that while he does not create such images, he is aware of the lucrative nature of such content, estimating that a Facebook page with 300,000 followers could earn $1,000 a month if it featured premium content aimed at higher-value audiences from western countries.
In conclusion, as evidenced by the rise of AI-generated Holocaust imagery, the manipulation of historical truths poses profound ethical issues that warrant serious examination and action.
