San Francisco orders Apple, Google to remove nudify apps
Cease-and-Desist Action Against App Store Platforms
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to Apple Inc. and Google LLC on July 17, 2026, demanding that they remove nudify applications from their app stores, TechCrunch reported. The action, taken by the City and County of San Francisco, targets apps that enable users to create non-consensual deepfake pornography—sexually explicit synthetic media generated without victim consent.
Chiu stated: "Apple and Google are profiting off apps that exploit women and girls by generating nonconsensual intimate deepfakes." The city attorney's office warned both companies that they could face civil penalties if they violate California law, which criminalizes activity that "knowingly facilitates" or "recklessly aids or abets" the creation of such content. The letters requested that Apple and Google respond within 28 days.
Scope and Company Response
Chiu's office ordered removal of dozens of nudify apps across both platforms. Apple confirmed it had removed three apps and was terminating their developer accounts. An Apple spokesperson said: "We have removed three of the apps in question and are in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program. We are in contact with four others that need to address policy violations or risk being removed as well."
Google suspended all five Play Store apps referenced in Chiu's letter. A Google spokesperson said: "When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like 'nudify' on our store."
Legal Framework and Financial Impact
The enforcement action rests on California law that criminalizes facilitating or aiding non-consensual deepfake pornography creation. A 2025 California law also allows victims to bring civil actions against third-party facilitators—expanding liability beyond direct creators to platforms that knowingly host or profit from such apps.
Chiu told Wired that Apple and Google had likely made "millions of dollars in fees" from the apps TechCrunch, though no specific revenue figure has been disclosed. The case underscores enforcement pressure on major app platforms to police deepfake tools that facilitate non-consensual sexual imagery—a growing vector for harassment, blackmail, and reputational harm, particularly targeting women.