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Apple requires App Store apps to filter AI nudify images
Apple updated its App Store rules to require apps hosting user generated content to filter nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI generated images. Apps that misrepresent nudification features during review face removal along with their developer accounts.
Key points
- Apps with user generated content must filter nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI images.
- Developers must offer reporting and blocking tools and remove images that slip through.
- Apps hiding nudification features risk removal and developer program expulsion.
What happened: Apple updated its App Store moderation policy to stop apps, including those using AI tools, from being used to nudify images or turn ordinary photos into sexually explicit content, Engadget reported. Apple announced the change on its developer news page.
The details: Apple has long banned pornographic material and has not allowed apps built specifically to generate sexually explicit imagery. The new rules go further by requiring developers to actively police how their apps are used. Developers of apps that host user generated content must filter nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI generated images, prevent users from uploading such images, remove any that get past their filters, and give users a way to report offensive content and block abusive accounts.
Who it affects: Developers that do not put adequate safeguards in place, or do not fix violations after being notified, risk removal from the App Store. Apple also clarified its rules on bait and switch tactics: if it finds that an app misrepresented its purpose during review and actually has nudification capabilities, it will remove the app and remove its creator from the Apple Developer Program.
What to watch: Apple has not disclosed how it will detect violations or how many apps could be affected. The change puts the burden of moderation on developers whose apps include generative image tools or user uploads.
Our take
Teams building or buying AI image features for iOS now need active content filtering, reporting and takedown processes to stay in the App Store.