“Nudify” Websites Are Using Sign-on Systems from Google, X, Discord, Patreon & Line

• According to a recent WIRED investigation, 16 harmful nudify" websites have been using the signup tool of Google, X, Discord, Patreon & Line to welcome new users.
• All the companies mentioned in the report (except X) came forward to address the issue and assured that rightful action will be taken.
• The names of the mischievous sites have not been revealed and none of the owners have been identified.
• However, one owner came forward on their own and said they were ready to cooperate with the authorities to make their service more transparent, safe, and reliable.

Harmful nudify" websites that use AI to undress a victim's photo without their consent have been using the sign-in infrastructure from Apple, Google, X, Discord, Patreon, and Line.

16 such websites have been found in an analysis done by WIRED. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

• Google's signup system is being used by 16 websites
• Discord is second with 13 websites
• Apple comes next with 6 websites
• X's signup infrastructure was found on 3 websites
• Both Patreon and Line are tied at the bottom with 2 websites

WIRED has chosen not to reveal the names of the websites so that it doesn't get more attention than it already has. However, it did mention that these websites are part of a broader network and a lot of them are owned by the same company/individual.

Speaking of the importance of having a popular signup tool on such sites, they make it easier for users to create accounts on there.

For instance, users can simply use their existing account on Google, Apple, etc. to sign up for the service. It also makes these sites come across as safe and legit, which further drives up signup rates.What Do the Companies Have to Say about This?

Google and Apple have promised to take action against the developers who violated their terms of use.

Next, just a few hours after promising to remove such illegal accounts, Discord Vice President of Trust and Safety Jud Hoffman confirmed that it has removed the website's access to its API.

Note: One of the websites whose access was removed took to its Telegram channel to inform its users that authorization via Discord was temporarily unavailable" and it was trying to regain access.

Patreon said that it already prohibits accounts that use its tools for creating/distributing explicit imagery - so it'll definitely look into the matter. Line said the same thing, but added that it can't comment on any specific websites until the investigation is over.

The only one of the five that did not respond is X. It's also worth noting that the above-mentioned tech giants aren't the only ones under fire. A lot of these websites have VISA and Mastercard has a payment option, so WIRED also reached out to them for a comment.

While VISA did not respond, Mastercard said that purchases of illegal sexual comments are not allowed on their network and whenever they detect such a transaction, they take action.

Lawsuit against the Websites

David Chiu, San Francisco's city attorney, has filed a lawsuit against these websites.

These websites are engaged in horrific exploitation of women and girls around the globe. These images are used to bully, humiliate, and threaten women and girls" he added.

No individual has been identified because the owners usually run the show in shadows. The Telegram channels they operate have thousands of members and the websites they run have almost identical structure and terms and conditions - and each offers a dozen languages. Zeroing in on any detail of the owners is undoubtedly hard.

Only one person, who identifies themselves as Alexander August and claims to be the CEO of one of the websites, came forward to respond to WIRED through email. They said that they understand the concerns regarding the misuse of the websites, but they have put security features in place to protect minors.

They added that they're also willing to cooperate with the authorities and take accountability for their actions to make their service more transparent, reliable, and safe.

Whatever the plan is, the authorities better hurry up because the popularity of these websites is growing at a concerning rate. In the first 6 months of the year alone, the sites have received 200 million visitors.

Plus, they're constantly developing and coming up with newer features. For instance, one feature allows you to modify the bodies of the women and another allows you to directly upload images from Instagram.

Deepfakes are not a new problem, but with the advent of AI, the problem has grown catastrophically. Plus, even if these tech firms take action and remove the websites' access to their signup API, will that be enough to fix the problem?

Related: Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini are creating scandalous deepfakes

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