Apple removes apps after TTP probe
Following a Tech Transparency Project investigation, Apple removed apps that a report said were being surfaced by App Store search and ads to promote so‑called 'nudify' tools (timesofindia.indiatimes.com). The Times of India report says Apple acted after investigators flagged its discovery systems as directing users toward those tools (timesofindia.indiatimes.com).
Apple removed apps from the App Store after a watchdog report said Apple’s own search suggestions and ads were steering users to tools that generate fake nude images. (9to5mac.com) The report was published Wednesday, April 15, by the Tech Transparency Project, a research arm of Campaign for Accountability. It said searches for terms such as “nudify” and “undress” could surface promoted listings and autocomplete suggestions that led users to those apps. (campaignforaccountability.org) (9to5mac.com) These apps use artificial intelligence image tools to alter uploaded photos and create sexualized images of real people without their consent. Bloomberg reported that Apple and Google were still offering such apps even though both companies say their policies bar that kind of content. (bloomberg.com) (developer.apple.com) The April report followed a broader Tech Transparency Project review published January 27 that said it found 47 such apps in Apple’s store and 55 in Google Play. The same report said the two stores together had hosted 102 apps of this kind. (techtransparencyproject.org) (campaignforaccountability.org) Apple’s App Review Guidelines say the App Store is meant to provide a “safe experience” and that every app is reviewed before approval. Apple also revised those guidelines in late 2025 to expand the list of objectionable user-generated content experiences that can be removed. (developer.apple.com 1) (developer.apple.com 2) The case lands in a wider fight over non-consensual intimate imagery, which lawmakers and platforms have been trying to police for years. A Congressional Research Service brief says states spent more than a decade passing laws on non-consensual intimate images, and Congress created a federal civil right of action for victims in the 2022 Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. (congress.gov) Google has separately built reporting tools for victims seeking removal of explicit or intimate images from Search results. StopNCII, a nonprofit-backed system that shares image hashes with participating companies, describes the abuse as a problem that disproportionately harms women and girls. (support.google.com) (stopncii.org) The immediate question for Apple is not whether the apps violate policy on paper, but how they were still being surfaced through the company’s own discovery systems in April. Apple’s removals close one gap, but the Tech Transparency Project’s January and April findings point to a recurring review and ranking problem inside the App Store. (9to5mac.com) (developer.apple.com)
