Apple has tightened its developer guidelines over the weekend to prohibit applications that utilize artificial intelligence to generate offensive content, alongside programs that disguise themselves as ordinary applications during the App Store review process before transforming into nudify apps or prominently displaying those capabilities.
The company revised its guidelines by incorporating stringent language regarding artificial intelligence and user-generated content, outlining how application developers must integrate adequate preventative measures to moderate objectionable or offensive material.
Applications that host user-generated content are mandated to filter objectionable material, provide users with a mechanism to report offensive content, and enable users to block abusive accounts, the company detailed in a blog post. Applications containing hidden or undocumented features are strictly prohibited on the App Store, including programs that misrepresent their core purpose during the review phase and only reveal harmful capabilities like nudification following approval, a tactic commonly referred to as bait-and-switch.
Apple stated that it will actively remove applications that incorporate features absent from the specific version originally submitted for App Store evaluation.
The iPhone manufacturer also revised the terminology within its legal section to reinforce its strict stance against barring applications that promote human trafficking and the exploitation of children.
The tech corporation revealed last year that its review procedures successfully blocked over 150,000 applications from reaching consumers and removed 193,000 developer accounts in response to fraud and abuse.
Regulatory and legal pressure has mounted previously, as the city of San Francisco ordered both Apple and Google in July to purge and delete nudification apps from their respective marketplaces. City Attorney David Chiu accused both corporations of profiting from these applications through standard store fees. Furthermore, a Tech Transparency Project report published in April indicated that both technology giants' stores hosted multiple nudify apps, with certain titles even rated as suitable for minors.
