Australian watchdog takes action against viral AI 'nudify' site

Australia's internet watchdog has launched a major crackdown on a popular AI "nudifying" service, giving the platform's operators a 14-day deadline to block children from accessing its explicit content.

The eSafety Commissioner has issued a formal Direction to Comply to the Argentina-based provider, which allows users to upload photos of real people and generate on-demand, sexually explicit deepfakes. 

Despite being headquartered overseas, the platform attracts nearly 40,000 Australian visits per month following a sharp surge in local traffic over the past 6 months.

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The enforcement action marks the first time the regulator has used its powers under new age-restricted codes, which came into force in March. 

The codes require platforms to restrict children from accessing pornography, high-impact violence, and content promoting self-harm.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the platform posed unacceptable risks to both minors and adults, enabling high-impact cyberbullying, sexual extortion, and image-based sexual abuse.

"The popularity of this 'nudify' platform and the ease of which children can access it is deeply concerning," Grant said. 

"These are services that enable the creation of sexually explicit content involving real people, and are extremely caustic to adults (mostly women) but also pose an unacceptable risk to children."

"I like many others struggle to see a positive use case for such services as it is, and services like these demonstrates where AI is causing irreparable harms today."

The watchdog has deliberately chosen not to name the service to avoid inadvertently promoting it or driving further traffic to the site.

According to eSafety, regulators attempted to engage with the Argentine provider shortly after the new codes came into effect to ensure appropriate safeguards were put in place. 

However, the company failed to respond and refused to commit to improving protections for Australian children, prompting the formal escalation.

The company now has 14 days to implement robust age-verification measures and comply with Australian law. 

If it fails to meet the deadline, eSafety can pursue civil penalties of up to $49.5 million and issue delisting notices to search engines to effectively block access to the site from within Australia.

Grant warned that tech providers profiting from Australian users would be held accountable regardless of where they are physically based.

"We have been clear with industry about the need to put safeguards in place under the Age-Restricted Material Codes which they themselves drafted," she said. 

"As this action demonstrates, for those companies that refuse to engage or fail to act, we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers."

This is not the first time the regulator has targeted deepfake generation tools. 

In late 2025, eSafety action forced three other widely used nudify services to withdraw from the Australian market after they were used to generate child sexual exploitation material in schools. 

Those services have since relaunched under new ownership with mandatory age assurance requirements.

The regulatory push comes as the Australian Government moves to outlaw the technology entirely. 

In September last year, the government announced intentions to legislate a total ban on "nudifying" services to prevent the non-consensual generation of sexually explicit material.

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