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San Francisco targets app stores
San Francisco city attorney David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to Apple and Google demanding they remove 13 “nudify” apps from their app stores, including eight on the App Store and five on the Play Store.
“demanding that they remove from their app stores 13 face-swapping apps”
The letters accuse the companies of “aiding and abetting” the sale of explicit deepfake images and of needing to “sever” business relationships with the app developers.
WIRED reported that Chiu’s notices say the apps allow users to create AI-generated nonconsensual nude images by transforming ordinary photos of real people.
Chiu told WIRED, “Generating non-consensual intimate images is illegal, harmful, and completely unacceptable,” as the city attorney’s office pointed to California’s laws prohibiting supporting services that create deepfake pornography.
Google acts, Apple responds
In a statement to WIRED, Google spokesperson Dan Jackson said Google Play “does not allow apps that contain sexual content,” and that the company “continually take proactive steps to detect and remove apps with harmful content.”
Jackson added that when violations are reported, Google investigates and takes “swift action,” including “suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like 'nudify' on our store.”
Apple told WIRED that developers are ultimately responsible for app content and that those who fail to follow the rules will have their apps removed.
Adam Dema, an Apple spokesperson, said Apple removed three of the apps flagged by Chiu and is “in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program,” while the other four developers must “address policy violations or risk being removed as well.”
Legal and economic stakes
Chiu’s office told TechCrunch that “Apple and Google are profiting off apps that exploit women and girls by generating nonconsensual intimate deepfakes,” and said the companies have a responsibility to be proactive and vigilant to prevent sexual abuse.
““Apple and Google are profiting off apps that exploit women and girls by generating nonconsensual intimate deepfakes,””
TechCrunch reported that the letters viewed by the outlet note Apple and Google “have been on notice” for their role in “processing payments for illegal purchases for almost a year” while continuing to host and monetize the programs.
The TechCrunch report also said the letters warn Apple and Google could face civil penalties for violating the law and request that they contact the city within 28 days.
In the same TechCrunch update, an Apple spokesperson said, “We have removed three of the apps in question and are in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program,” while a Google spokesperson said the five Play apps referenced in Chiu’s letter had been suspended and that Google had restricted related search terms like ‘nudify’.