Meta is cracking down on ‘nudifying’ apps after filing a lawsuit against the entity behind CrushAI, alleging that the platform’s owner tried to circumvent Meta’s ad review process to continue advertising AI-generated nude and sexually explicit images of individuals without their consent.  

The legal action against the Hong Kong-based Joy Timeline HK Limited has been taken to prevent the firm from advertising CrushAI apps on Meta platforms, following what the social media giant described as ‘multiple attempts’ to break the rules.

Meta has longstanding rules against non-consensual intimate imagery, having updated its policies over a year ago to make it even clearer that the platform does not allow the promotion of nudifying apps or similar services. 

The company said that it removes ads, Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts promoting these services as soon as it becomes aware and block links to websites hosting them so they can’t be accessed from Meta platforms, while also restricting search terms like ‘nudify’, ‘undress’ and ‘delete clothing’ on Facebook and Instagram so they don’t show results.

“This legal action underscores both the seriousness with which we take this abuse and our commitment to doing all we can to protect our community from it,” said Meta’s statement.

“We’ll continue to take the necessary steps, which could include legal action against those who abuse our platforms like this.”

An investigation earlier this year by 404 Media found that CrushAI, otherwise known as Crushmate, received the vast majority of its traffic through more than 5,000 ads placed on Meta’s platforms, particularly Instagram, which research indicated made up 90% of the nudifying app’s traffic.

Once these numbers became public, Meta came under increasing pressure from officials to do more to tackle the problem.

In February, US Senator Dick Durbin pressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his company’s role in directing traffic to CrushAI in a letter that stressed the harm nudifying apps have on victims.

Durbin claimed that Crush was evading Meta’s enforcement efforts through a ‘simple strategy’ that was leaving young people to grapple with ‘shocking acts of image-based abuse’.

The Senator wrote that, “Because Meta has allowed Crush to run advertisements on mainstream platforms like Instagram, a significant number of Meta users have now accessed a highly problematic, otherwise little-used app.”

However, despite those accusations, Meta has pledged to double down on its efforts to fight nudifying apps across the internet. 

The platform said that now, after it removes ads, accounts or content promoting these services, it will share this information with other tech companies through the Tech Coalition’s Lantern programme, so other firms can investigate and take action. 

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Meta claims that since it started sharing this information at the end of March, it has already provided more than 3,800 unique URLs to participating tech companies.

The social media firm also said it will ‘evolve’ its enforcement methods, for example, by developing new tech specifically designed to identify ads using benign imagery to avoid being caught by nudity detection processes and matching technology to help find and remove copycat ads more quickly.

However, at the same time, Meta stressed the need for legislative bodies to continue pushing for regulatory change. 

That includes support for the new TAKE IT DOWN Act in the US, a bipartisan effort to combat the sharing of non-consensual intimate images online, including deepfakes, as well as legislation that empowers parents to oversee and approve their teens’ app downloads.