The general social majority media platforms have strict guidelines that prohibit the distribution of non-consensual intimate images (NCII), or sexually graphic images and videos. But a new report finds that many social networks direct users to such content.
A report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an anti-extremism organization, analyzes the online ecosystem that allows the proliferation of so-called “nude” apps and websites, which allow users to digitally undress people without their consent.
The study, published on Monday, looked at the top 10 apps and websites used to create unsolicited deepfakes, and how people find them. It found that a surprising amount of referral traffic does not come from small, poorly regulated online communities like 4chan but from mainstream social media.
According to the ISD report, social media drove more than 5.7 million visits to websites between December 2025 and March 2026. The top driver of this traffic was YouTube, which was responsible for 1.82 million site visits, more than 30 percent of referrals.
Such videos, generated by searches for keywords such as “app stripping” or “naked app,” range from reviewing and promoting specific apps to linking promo codes to provide free credits. IX was the second most prominent source of traffic to the sites, accounting for more than 1.3 million visits, according to the study.
The study’s authors wrote that the findings appear to be “in direct conflict” with YouTube’s policies, which prohibit sexually explicit content. “This should reasonably include nudity websites or tools that generate non-consensual images,” the report reads. “However, content that violates these policies was readily available and accessible locally, making it a gateway to deface websites.”
“It’s not just that YouTube has been a passive source” of referral traffic, Melanie Smith, ISD’s senior director of research and policy, tells WIRED. “In most of these cases, it was easy to use these tools.”
Interestingly, Smith notes, YouTube’s policies not only prohibit posting pornographic content, they also prohibit posting links to or advertising on pornographic websites (say, linking to fans only). “In theory it should include non-consensual images and revenge sex, or the leaking of nude images, but it doesn’t seem like that’s being fully enforced,” he said.
In response to WIRED’s request for comment, YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle says the company has “strong policies against content that includes unwanted sexual activity, such as sharing private images without consent.” He noted that these policies apply to both content on YouTube itself and external links, and include “modified or artificial content that realistically simulates nudity.”
The study also looked at the price and accessibility of nudity tools, with some apps and websites allowing users to produce sexually explicit content for as little as $1 per image. Despite the low cost of running the platforms, they can be very profitable, with a recent report by WIRED finding that they could generate as much as $36 million a year.
Common targets of nudity apps include current and former friends, and (disturbingly) relatives such as sisters and cousins, the study found. The authors were also surprised to find that the motivations of people using nudity tools aren’t even “sexist in nature,” Smith said: “Many of the requests were about putting people out of work and jeopardizing their livelihoods and living in dirty ways.”
Nudify apps have become a huge scourge on many social media platforms. Sometimes, however, the platform will not only allow these AI-generated images to spread but also help people create them.
