San Francisco Orders Apple and Google to Remove 'Nudify' Apps

San Francisco Orders Apple and Google to Remove 'Nudify' Apps">

The city of San Francisco has ordered Apple and Google to remove dozens of 'nudify' apps — software programs that can digitally alter pictures to unclothe the people in them — from their app stores. California law criminalizes any activity that 'knowingly facilitates' or 'recklessly aids or abets' the creation of non-consensual deepfake pornography. In 2025, California also passed a law that allows victims to pursue civil actions against third-party facilitators of such material.

The city says that, despite these well-known regulations, both tech companies have continued to host and make money from such programs. 'Apple and Google are profiting off apps that exploit women and girls by generating nonconsensual intimate deepfakes,' San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in an emailed statement. 'While the companies cut ties with some problematic apps, Apple and Google have a responsibility to be proactive and vigilant to prevent sexual abuse.' Letters sent to Google and Apple by Chiu's office, which were viewed by TechCrunch, note that the companies have 'been on notice' for their role in 'processing payments for illegal purchases for almost a year' but have, nevertheless, continued to do so.

According to the letters, both companies have been repeatedly warned that they are hosting these apps. In January and again in April, the Tech Transparency Project issued reports and sent letters to both companies noting that there were 'dozens of apps' within their app stores that 'sold deepfake NCII [non-consensual intimate images] in exchange for payments' from processed by the firms. TTP's report from April said that Google and Apple had intentionally 'steered' users towards such apps and called both companies 'key participants in the spread of AI tools that can turn real people into sexualized images.' Chiu told Wired that both companies had likely made 'millions of dollars in fees' from apps that offered such services.

The letters from Chiu's office warn that Apple and Google could face civil penalties for violating the law and request that they contact the city within 28 days. When reached for comment, an Apple spokesperson said that nudify apps were forbidden from appearing in its App Store, further noting: 'We have removed three of the apps in question and are in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program. We are in contact with four others that need to address policy violations or risk being removed as well.' A Google spokesperson claimed that all five Play apps referenced in Chiu's letter had been suspended from Google Play.

'When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like 'nudify' on our store,' the spokesperson added. Deepfake pornography has largely been a problem for female celebrities, although nudify apps make it possible for anyone with a publicly available photo to be targeted. Why this matters: The San Francisco city attorney's order marks a significant escalation in the battle against non-consensual deepfake pornography.