New ‘x-ray vision’ apps launch following removal of original DeepNude
You’d need to have been living under a digital rock to miss the uproar about the DeepNude app launched briefly earlier this…
Coverage dossier
Active
Image-based abuse: tracking the law, the tech, and the gap between them
Eight years of coverage tracking image-based sexual abuse from DeepNude's brief viral run through today's nudify apps, following the law as it slowly caught up: the UK's Online Safety Act provisions, South Korea's viewing ban, Australia's record fines, and the US Take It Down Act's first prosecutions. Across 47 entries, the pattern holds steady rather than escalating into crisis: legislation arrives late but genuinely closes gaps, platforms like Pornhub and Google make real if partial progress on enforcement, and operators such as ClothOff keep expanding into whatever jurisdictional space remains open. This thread is worth following for how it measures each new law, platform policy, or enforcement action against actual outcomes rather than the press release announcing it.
Companion to Safety
Latest development
‘Horrific violations’: Manhattan DA seizes 12 sites selling celebrity deepfake porn
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg seized 12 domains selling celebrity deepfake porn depicting more than 1,200 people, using a state court warrant rather than the federal Take It Down Act. No charges yet.
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Most loved in this thread
- 107 votes
DeepNude app shuts down after going viral – but deepfake tech isn’t going away
34 votesA deepfake ‘x-ray vision’ app that algorithmically undressed photos of women was taken down by its creator last week. Users of the…
Concerns over ‘one-click’ deepfake porn videos as extortion scams on the rise
21 votesThe deeply troubling capabilities of deepfake porn video technology have been highlighted by the launch of a new artificial intelligence (AI) app,…
Deepfake porn fears: AI-generated faces as realistic as real faces, research finds
20 votesResearchers studying images of faces created by artificial intelligence (AI) have called for new guidelines in the face of the potential misuse…
Dated ledger
Earlier developments
June 2026
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News
‘Crossing the Rubicon’: UK wants device-level age verification for sharing nudes
Keir Starmer gave Apple, Google and other device makers until September 2026 to build nudity-detection age verification into phones and tablets sold in the UK, or face legislation and fines.
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News
Two men charged under Take It Down Act as US deepfake law finally bites
Arturo Hernandez, 20, and Cornelius Shannon, 51, face up to two years in prison in the first US prosecutions under the 2025 Take It Down Act over hundreds of non-consensual deepfake albums.
November 2025
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News
Pornhub says uploaded content isn’t used for training generative AI, despite terms seemingly allowing it
Pornhub told SEXTECHGUIDE it does not use uploaded content for generative AI training, despite terms of service stating all uploaded content "may be used for training purposes".
September 2025
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News
Man hit with record AUD $343,000 fine for posting deepfake porn in Australia
Australia's Federal Court fined Anthony Rotondo AUD $343,000 (US $225,000) for uploading nonconsensual deepfake images of prominent women to MrDeepFakes, the first penalty of its kind under the country's Online Safety Act.
August 2025
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News
Grok’s ‘spicy’ AI video tool is already controversial (obviously)
xAI's Grok Imagine added a 'spicy' mode generating topless AI images and videos, with outlets finding it produced deepfake content of Taylor Swift and Melania Trump. Access costs $30 per month.
July 2025
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News
Clothoff deepfake app expands despite porn crackdown, whistleblower says
A former Clothoff employee told Der Spiegel the nudify app now owns at least ten similar tools, runs on a $3.5 million annual budget, and is planning marketing pushes in Germany, the UK, France,…
June 2025
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News
Australia seeks record fine in first deepfake porn case as global crackdown intensifies
Australia's eSafety Commissioner is seeking the maximum AUD $450,000 (US $290,000) fine against Anthony Rotondo for posting nonconsensual deepfake images on MrDeepFakes, the country's first case of its kind.
May 2025
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News
Huge deepfake porn site ‘Mr Deepfakes’ has shut down and ‘will not be relaunching’
MrDeepFakes, the largest deepfake porn site with 13 million monthly visitors, has shut down permanently, days after US Congress passed the Take It Down Act criminalizing nonconsensual explicit imagery.
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News
Take It Down Act: Sharing non-consensual deepfake porn to become illegal in the US
The US Congress passed the Take It Down Act on April 28, 2025, requiring platforms to remove non-consensual explicit content, including deepfakes, within 48 hours or face penalties up to three years in prison.
February 2025
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News
Deepfake porn app claims to work with AI abuse victim organization, provides no evidence
Nudify app ClothOff says it donates to AI abuse victims via a non-profit called ASU Label, but a Bellingcat investigation found no evidence the group exists beyond an AI-written website registered in October 2024.
January 2025
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News
UK deepfake law proposes up to two years in prison for porn creators
The UK Ministry of Justice announced on January 7, 2025 that creating non-consensual deepfake porn will carry up to two years in prison under the Crime and Policing Bill, with no timetable set.
December 2024
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News
Deepfake porn guides easily accessible via search engines, despite crackdown
Google, Bing and Yahoo still surface deepfake porn tutorials and 'nudify' apps in search results, a Glamour investigation found, despite all three claiming crackdowns on nonconsensual synthetic imagery.
November 2024
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News
‘Digital condom’ app blocks your lover’s phone camera and mic
German condom brand Billy Boy and agency Innocean Berlin launched Camdom, a 'digital condom' app that syncs partners' phones and disables cameras and mics until both consent to unblock.
September 2024
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News
Watching deepfake porn will be illegal in South Korea, amid ‘digital sex crime epidemic’
South Korean lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing the watching or possession of sexually explicit deepfakes, with penalties up to three years in jail and fines of 30 million won ($22,600).
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News
Microsoft hooks up with StopNCII to tackle non-consensual deepfakes on Bing
Microsoft is piloting StopNCII hash-matching on Bing, joining TikTok, Reddit, Pornhub and Meta's platforms, though a September 10, 2024 check still surfaced a deepfake porn site as the top result.
August 2024
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News
16 AI porn generator sites sued in US ‘nudify’ lawsuit
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has sued 16 'nudify' sites and apps that use AI to generate non-consensual deepfake nudes, seeking shutdowns, injunctions and civil penalties.
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News
Google’s anti-deepfake tools for Search are getting better at hiding results and removing images
Google expanded its Search protections against non-consensual deepfake porn, filtering explicit results for people who win removals and scrubbing duplicate images, though ads for AI 'undresser' apps still slipped through.
May 2024
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News
Google is cracking down on deepfake porn via Search throttling and advert bans
Google is demoting deepfake porn in search results and will ban ads promoting sexually explicit synthetic content from May 30, 2024, with immediate account suspensions for violators.
April 2024
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News
Creating non-consensual deepfakes to be made illegal in England and Wales, but there are still gray areas
An amendment to the criminal justice bill will criminalize creating non-consensual deepfake porn in England and Wales, but prosecution would require proving malicious intent.
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News
‘Sending a message’: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sues over deepfake porn
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is suing a father and son for 100,000 Euros over deepfake porn videos using her face, with testimony due in Sassari on July 2, 2024.
November 2023
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News
US plans to introduce watermark rules for AI images and videos
Biden's new AI executive order directs the US government to develop watermarking and content authentication guidance for AI-generated material, with no detail yet on enforcement or penalties for unlabeled deepfakes.
September 2023
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News
‘A positive step’: Pornhub’s ethical drive continues with revenge porn crackdown
Aylo has partnered with StopNCII.org, letting users generate on-device hashes of intimate images to flag and remove non-consensual content across Pornhub, YouPorn and RedTube.
May 2023
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News
‘Irrevocable harm’: US bill would criminalize sharing non-consensual deepfake porn
Democrat Congressman Joe Morelle introduced the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act in May 2023, which would criminalize sharing non-consensual deepfake porn and let victims sue anonymously.
April 2023
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News
‘Shut it all down’: AI backlash gains traction with support from industry leaders
The Future of Life Institute's open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI training beyond GPT-4 has passed 10,100 verified signatures, including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and DeepMind staff.
December 2022
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News
UK anti-revenge porn app launching March ’23, plus Bumble and TikTok sign-up to StopNCII
The UK's DCMS is funding Minerva, an SWGfL app launching March 2023 that lets victims log timestamped evidence of image-based abuse, while TikTok and Bumble join StopNCII's hash-matching scheme.
November 2022
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News
Sharing deepfake porn without consent will be illegal in UK
Sharing deepfake porn without consent will become a criminal offence in England and Wales under the Online Safety Bill, with no need to prove intent to cause harm.
October 2022
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News
‘Consent not required’: The worrying rise of MrDeepFakes
A BBC documentary put numbers to MrDeepFakes, reporting 13 million monthly visitors, 250,000 members and over 20,000 non-consensual deepfake porn videos, with its anonymous founder claiming consent is "not required".
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News
India blocks Pornhub and Brazzers in ‘obscene material’ crackdown
India's IT ministry ordered ISPs to block 67 sites including Pornhub, Brazzers, BangBros, Chaturbate and AdultFriendFinder for 'obscene material', pushing the country's blocked adult site total to 857.
August 2022
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News
‘Collector culture’ exposed: Reddit is a rampant market for non-consensual nude photos
A BBC investigation found tens of thousands of Reddit users trading non-consensual nude images, with some subreddits holding over 15,000 photos and victims' personal details exposed alongside them.
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News
Scam loan apps sent fake nude photos to victims’ family members
Predatory loan apps in Mexico are sending faked nude images of borrowers to their relatives as debt collection pressure, with 35 of 94 apps flagged by cyber police still listed on Google Play.
March 2022
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Feature
Pam & Tommy to A$AP Rocky: the changing face of the celebrity sex tape
A chronology of celebrity sex tapes from Tonya Harding and Pamela Anderson through Kim Kardashian, Hulk Hogan's Thiel-funded Gawker suit, and A$AP Rocky's shrug in 2019.
February 2022
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News
Deepfake porn fears: AI-generated faces as realistic as real faces, research finds
Lancaster University and UC Berkeley researchers found people identified AI-generated faces with 48.2 percent accuracy, worse than chance, and rated the fakes as more trustworthy than real faces.
January 2022
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Guide
Sextech decoded: A deep dive into consent
A consent guide for sextech users covering smart sex toy data sharing, dating app harassment tools, deepfakes, revenge porn, and why blockchain consent apps like LegalFling misread how consent actually works.
December 2021
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News
Hundreds of women tricked into making porn for GirlsDoPorn win video rights
A San Diego judge granted 402 women deceived into filming for GirlsDoPorn ownership of their videos on 17 December 2021, letting them issue DMCA takedowns; producer Ruben Andre Garcia owes $18 million.
November 2021
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News
Taiwan’s considering prison sentences of up to 7 years for deepfake porn crimes
Taiwan's Ministry of Justice has proposed up to seven years in prison for making and distributing deepfake porn for profit, five without, following a YouTuber's arrest over videos using 100-plus politicians and celebrities.
September 2021
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News
Concerns over ‘one-click’ deepfake porn videos as extortion scams on the rise
A new AI app lets users swap any face into porn scenes from a prebuilt video bank, with crypto payments for downloads, as deepfake extortion scams targeting Instagram photos spread.
August 2021
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News
‘Super committee’ to scrutinize UK government’s controversial Online Safety Bill
A 12-person joint committee led by Conservative MP Damian Collins will scrutinize the UK's draft Online Safety Bill line by line, reporting by December 10 2021.
June 2021
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News
Pornhub accused of being ‘criminal enterprise’ in lawsuit filed by women alleging exploitation
34 women sued MindGeek in California on June 17, alleging Pornhub knowingly hosted non-consensual and underage videos and calling the company a criminal enterprise; Pornhub called the claims categorically false.
December 2020
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Opinion
Pornhub has banned unverified uploads, but do the policy changes go far enough?
Pornhub banned uploads and downloads from unverified users and purged all historic unverified content on December 14, 2020, after a New York Times report and Mastercard's withdrawal of card payments.
May 2020
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News
South Korea declares deepfakes a ‘sex crime’ after rise in videos featuring K-pop stars
South Korea's revised sex crimes act, effective June 25, 2020, makes producing or distributing deepfake porn punishable by five years in prison or a 50 million Won ($40,500) fine, after research found K-pop stars…
October 2019
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News
Deepfake porn is growing in popularity, as lawmakers scramble to keep up
Deeptrace found 96 percent of the 14,678 deepfake videos online are pornographic and almost entirely target women, with California's AB 740 letting residents sue over non-consensual sexual deepfakes.
August 2019
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News
New ‘x-ray vision’ apps launch following removal of original DeepNude
Two anonymous services, DeepNude.to and NudifierApp, have relaunched the pulled DeepNude image-nudifying tech behind crypto paywalls, with founders dismissing consent and abuse concerns as media panic.
July 2019
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Opinion
DeepNude app shuts down after going viral – but deepfake tech isn’t going away
DeepNude, a $50 app that used GANs to generate fake nude images of women from clothed photos, was pulled by its anonymous creator after a Motherboard report crashed the site.
June 2019
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News
UK to review laws around deepfake and revenge porn
The UK Law Commission starts a review of non-consensual intimate image laws on July 1 2019, covering deepfake porn and cyber-flashing, with a report due in summer 2021 and a public consultation alongside it.
May 2019
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News
Dev criticized for porn facial recognition algorithm says it was actually built by an ‘0ldsch00l hacker’
A Weibo developer blamed for software that cross-referenced 100,000 performers' faces with social media profiles told SEXTECHGUIDE he only used the tool, built by someone else, to help revenge porn victims.
September 2018
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Opinion
Privacy-invading camera tech is a problem that authorities will always struggle to combat
Cheap off-the-shelf covert cameras, hidden-toilet-cam sweeps in Seoul, and UK MPs blocking an upskirting offense show enforcement can't keep pace with privacy-invading recording tech.
