According to Aftonbladet, Jonas Karlsson at Ecpat described how these apps allow users to upload any image and turn it into a nude or pornographic image, and they rarely have protections to prevent use on children. Meta has banned the apps from advertising on its platforms, but they advertise openly on Telegram, and they target a young audience with phrases like 'see your crush naked', despite claiming to be for adults.
The apps have received significant attention in Spain and the USA, where several children have been subjected to the spread of AI-generated images. Ecpat's new report indicates that currently a vanishingly small percentage of children know they have been subjected, but the organization is receiving an increasing number of calls about the issue. A large majority of children who responded to an Ecpat survey believe the apps should be banned, and work on an EU-wide ban is ongoing, according to Karlsson.
The effect is essentially the same: one feels shame, feels attacked, and worries about the future.
Many more children than before say they are willing to turn to adults if they are subjected online, and children who spread AI-generated nude images can be prosecuted for child pornography offenses. Both Ecpat and children believe this is a problem that will only grow. According to Aftonbladet, Karlsson described the increased willingness to talk to adults as hopeful, but also indicative that children are tired of the constant emergence of new tools that make the online space unsafe. The exact number of affected children remains unclear, and a timeline for the EU ban has not been specified.
Simply put, they are apps or other tools where you can upload any image and turn it into a nude image or a pornographic image. They rarely have protections that prevent them from being used on children.
Now we have a couple of contacts per week regarding this. The calls are increasing rapidly.
Both we and the children believe that this is a problem that will only grow.
They say it's for adults, but use phrases like 'see your crush naked', so it's targeted at a young audience.
It is hopeful, but it also indicates that they are quite tired of the constant emergence of new tools that make the place where they spend so much time unsafe.