Australia’s regulator targets AI-nudify platform over child safety and deepfake risks

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has begun enforcement action against another AI-powered ‘nudify’ service accused of failing to protect children from exposure to sexually explicit deepfake images.

The regulator issued a formal Direction to Comply to one of the most visited nudify services in Australia, giving the provider 14 days to implement stronger protections preventing children from accessing the platform. eSafety said the service allows users to upload images of real people and generate sexually explicit deepfake content on demand.

The regulator warned that such technologies can facilitate non-consensual exploitation, cyberbullying, sexual extortion, image-based sexual abuse, misogynistic harassment and exploitation of minors. The service had attracted nearly 40,000 Australian visits per month as of March 2026, following a sharp increase in traffic over the previous six months.

The enforcement action was taken under Australia’s Age-Restricted Material Codes, which came into force in March 2026. The codes are designed to prevent children from accessing or being exposed to age-restricted material, including pornography, high-impact violence, self-harm, suicide or disordered eating content.

eSafety said the Argentina-based provider failed to respond to earlier engagement after the codes took effect and had not committed to improving protections for children. The regulator chose not to name the service to avoid inadvertently promoting it.

If the service does not meet the requirements within the 14-day timeframe, eSafety may pursue further action, including civil penalties of up to AU$49.5 million and delisting notices to search engine providers that help facilitate access to the site.

The action follows earlier enforcement in late 2025 that led three widely used nudify services, which had reportedly been used to generate child sexual exploitation material in schools, to withdraw from Australia. Those services have since relaunched under new ownership with additional safety measures, including mandatory age assurance.

Why does it matter?

The case shows how online safety regulators are beginning to apply age-assurance and child protection rules directly to generative AI services. Nudify platforms are treated as high-risk because they can enable non-consensual sexualised deepfakes, image-based abuse and exploitation involving minors at scale. Australia’s enforcement approach also signals that regulators may target foreign-based AI services when they are accessible to local users and fail to implement safeguards.

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