US Teens Access Nudify Apps Despite Parental Controls, Report Finds

US Teens Access Nudify Apps Despite Parental Controls

US teens can access nudify apps and download tools designed to generate nonconsensual intimate imagery despite parental controls and platform prohibitions, according to an exclusive report released on Monday by the digital advocacy group Tech Transparency Project (TTP) and reported by The Guardian.

The investigation highlights a growing crisis in schools nationwide. In December 2025, Morgan Dorfman learned that a student at her daughter’s Pennsylvania high school had used an artificial intelligence image-editing app called Movely to create AI-generated pornographic material using images of her daughter and five other girls. Although governments globally have moved to ban these platforms and most US states have criminalized the possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, the apps remain readily accessible.

How TTP Tested App Store Protections

To evaluate platform safety, TTP researchers established four test accounts simulating 13-year-old users—two on Apple systems and two on Google systems. Using terms like “AI video generator” and “adult AI,” the researchers successfully downloaded 135 apps equipped with features allowing them to strip clothing from digital subjects or superimpose faces onto nude bodies.

Apple and Google explicitly prohibit applications featuring nonconsensual intimate imagery and rely on age-gating mechanisms to block minors. However, the investigation discovered that both tech giants largely delegate rating responsibilities to application developers. Consequently, many nudification tools carried inaccurate age ratings. One face-swapping app advertised with explicit imagery was categorized as suitable for users aged four and older, and researchers successfully purchased subscriptions from a 13-year-old account without triggering any parental alerts.

Flaws in Parental Controls and Enforcement

The study tested accounts configured with parental settings meant to restrict downloads to age-appropriate software. The Apple test account with parental controls active still managed to download 24 nudify apps, while the restricted Google account downloaded 51 such applications. Furthermore, when researchers encountered age-restriction warnings, bypassing them required little more than manually confirming an older birth year.

Once downloaded, removing apps from official stores failed to eliminate access for existing users. During the study, Apple removed 25 offending apps and Google removed six, but researchers retained full functionality on devices where the software was already installed. Dorfman encountered a similar situation with Movely, noting that even after the platform removed the listing, the application remained fully operational on devices and continued billing active subscriptions.

In the case of Dorfman’s daughter, the local school initially downplayed the incident, but Radnor police ultimately filed criminal harassment charges against the male student involved. Representatives for Google stated the company routinely investigates violations and removes problematic software, while Apple reported strengthening its content moderation and developer screening protocols following inquiries from researchers.

Source: US teens can access ‘nudify’ apps despite Apple and Google’s parental controls, report finds (source-feed timestamp 2026-10-19T10:00:05+00:00). AI-assisted report based on the cited linked article and its RSS feed; details were not independently verified.