Wired uncovers network of over 400 apps hiding sexual deepfake features
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Published in SI: . Updated: .
App-store review cannot guarantee safety when a server can replace an innocuous interface after approval with a generator of nonconsensual intimate images.
Wired's investigation connected hundreds of domains and apps posing as pet-photo editors, language courses or fitness coaches. A server decided whether to show the advertised interface or a hidden web page generating explicit images and videos from uploaded photos; one trigger was arriving through a related Meta ad. The network was promoted through thousands of Facebook and Instagram ads and accepted payments through Apple and Google Pay. Researchers at AI Forensics estimate that the operator released apps for about a year, at times dozens per week. Based on domain records and service behavior, Wired links them to Chinese-language developers and Hong Kong-registered KeLing Technology Limited. Researchers had previously found SI-generated child sexual abuse material among the ads.
Sources 1