Apple Tightens App Store Rules On AI Nudify Apps
Apple’s updated rules require developers to prevent and remove nonconsensual intimate imagery and clarify when apps with nudification features can be removed.
Apple has updated its App Store rules to address apps that use AI to create intimate images of people without their consent. The changes make developers responsible for preventing and removing nonconsensual intimate imagery on their apps, according to Engadget and The Verge. Apple has also clarified how it will handle apps that conceal or later add “nudification” features.
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What developers must do
Engadget reports that apps hosting user-generated content must filter nonconsensual intimate imagery, including images made with AI tools. Developers must prevent users from uploading such material, remove images that get past their filters, and give users ways to report offensive content and block abusive accounts.
According to The Verge, Apple’s updated moderation requirements say developers must proactively prevent and remove nonconsensual sexual images. Both outlets report that apps risk removal from the App Store if their developers do not put adequate safeguards in place or fail to fix violations after being notified.
The change goes beyond banning apps built specifically to produce explicit images. Engadget notes that Apple already prohibited pornographic material and apps designed to generate sexually explicit imagery. The updated requirements also address what users can do within apps that host their content.
Rules for concealed features
Apple has clarified its rules on apps that mislead reviewers about their capabilities. Engadget reports that if an app misrepresents its purpose during review and Apple discovers it has nudification features, the company will remove both the app from the store and its creator from the Apple Developer Program.
The Verge describes the clarification as covering “bait-and-switch” apps that add or change features, including nudification, after approval. It also reports that Apple’s rules now state more clearly that apps facilitating human trafficking or the exploitation of children will be removed from the App Store and blocked from alternative distribution.
Why the changes are drawing attention
The Verge places the update after criticism of Apple over nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes made with Grok by users of X earlier this year, including images involving minors. Apple did not remove X or Grok from the App Store, the outlet reports, although it told senators it had threatened to remove Grok.
The Verge also reports that protesters at Apple’s WWDC event in June called for the removal of Grok, X and nudify technology from the App Store. In July, a San Francisco city attorney ordered Apple to remove 13 nudify apps; Apple said it had done so. For developers, the newly clarified rules make moderation safeguards and the accurate disclosure of app capabilities consequential to remaining on the App Store.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.