IT Home, October 17: Apple updated its App Review Guidelines yesterday (October 16), strengthening regulations on AI content creation apps in the revised Section 1.2, explicitly prohibiting AI-generated private images created without the subject's consent.
IT Home has attached the revised content as follows:
1.2 User-Generated Content
For apps that include user-generated content, specific challenges must be addressed, such as intellectual property infringement, non-consensual sharing of private images, and anonymous bullying. To prevent abuse, apps that include user-generated content or social networking services must meet the following requirements:
- Use appropriate methods to filter objectionable content to prevent it from being posted on the app.
- Establish a mechanism to report aggressive content and respond promptly when issues arise.
- If a user posts offensive content, their eligibility to use the service may be revoked.
- Publish contact information so users can reach you.
Tech media 9to5Mac noted that the direct context for this adjustment is a series of controversies surrounding the App Store over the past year. The Project on Technology Transparency discovered dozens of AI "nudification" apps and highlighted that App Store search suggestions and advertisements also directed users to such applications; subsequently, San Francisco officials demanded that Apple remove eight apps capable of generating non-consensual intimate images.
Additionally, users previously complained that xAI’s Grok chatbot was used to generate explicit or sexualized deepfake images; earlier this year, Apple warned xAI that it would remove Grok from the App Store if such content continued to be permitted. xAI subsequently implemented additional safeguards, and the updated version was approved.
Apple has also added guideline 2.5.19, prohibiting apps from concealing their true functionality during review and later adding harmful features such as "nudify" after approval. This practice, known as "bait-and-switch," may now result in app removal and termination of the developer's Apple Developer Program membership.
In addition, Apple will expand its prohibition on apps that facilitate human trafficking or child exploitation to include alternative app distribution channels, and stated that it will not hesitate to remove non-compliant apps or terminate partnerships with offending developers.