All major ad networks audit every single creative. The problem is javascript can change at anytime, and the publisher is the most exposed and also the most removed to be able to discover and mitigate. There have been some movements to whitelist the JS providers but volume is incentivized so most networks look the other way for now.

Adult ads are definitely not better and are served by even looser networks that allow anything. That industry has pioneered things like popunders, clickjacking, and monetizing every possible action on a window while serving as the primary vector for malware and browser bitcoin mining. I'm not sure what blog posts you've read but the only strict standards they would have is on getting paid.