‘Nudification’ apps have states scrambling to hold big tech accountable

In the wake of the nation’s first ban of AI “nudification” apps passed in Minnesota, Pennsylvania legislators are working hard to keep up with their own bill that will address the harmful and rapidly developing deep fake technology.While the commonwealth has already seen several bills introduced to protect individuals from the harmful uses of AI, including misleading AI chat interactions, legislation concerning apps that can undress individuals from a single photo have yet to be made.
Republican Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Red Hill, is proposing a bill that would see that distribution of “nudification” apps completely banned.
“I do not believe that there’s any legitimate use for these apps,” she said.
These de-dressing apps, while generally not advertised as such, are available on both Google and Apple app stores, and are often rated appropriate for minors. Marketing their services as simply bringing photos to life or playfully switching faces, these apps can be searched and found with terms like “nudify” and “undress” on app stores.
One particular app, Movely, has already done considerable damage in a Radnor Township high school. Advertising itself as a free way to change static photos into dynamic videos, this app was used by a student to create and share nonconsensual nude images of five girls in his class.
Although the school is looking into adapting their harassment policies to include banning such content, Movely, along with many other similar AI generating apps, are still available for download in Pennsylvania.
Katie Paul, the director of The Tech Transparency Project, a research initiative focused on keeping tech companies accountable, has been watching these types of deep fake issues closely.
“A lot of states are kind of scrambling for solutions to this and trying to impose legislation.” Paul said, acknowledging Minnesota’s most recent effort.
However, Paul hopes Pennsylvania’s bill will go farther than Minnesota’s. While the first of its kind, Paul claims the Minnesota’s ban fails to address the central issue behind “nudification” apps.
“[It] focuses more on the apps themselves as opposed to the app stores.” Paul said. “These tech companies that we’ve looked at with these apps available have policies on the books that claim that they don’t allow these apps, but there’s nothing legally holding them to that.”
While Google and Apple claim they prohibit apps that provide pornographic or degrading sexual content, many of these “nudification” apps include in-app purchases, of which both tech companies can take up to 30%.
So, rather than trying to ban every individual app capable of de-dressing images, Paul advised that legislators should focus on regulating the tech companies who profit from these apps.
Pennycuick agrees.
“Everyone kind of realizes that AI is a great tool, but when those bad actors [big tech] get a hold of that good tool and use it to exploit children especially, we need to put guardrails up,” she said. “We’re going to hold their feet to the fire and say, no, you have a responsibility to not put a tool that can exploit children on your app.”
While the proposed bill is still in the early stages and awaits committee approval, Pennycuick believes bipartisan momentum is there and the ban on “nudification” apps is only a matter of time.
“The app store is not going to be allowed to offer it to people in Pennsylvania,” she said. “Full stop. Period.”

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