Mapping the ‘Nudify’ Tools Ecosystem
A six-month investigation mapped a mature gendered-deepfake ecosystem in which mainstream search, app-store and social-media services funnel users toward “nudify” tools, while messaging, affiliate, hosting and payment infrastructure sustain distribution and monetisation.
Executive summary
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ISD conducted a six-month research and policy-analysis project tracing the lifecycle of gendered deepfakes: discovery, creation, circulation and monetisation. The investigation mapped tools, apps and websites alongside the mainstream services, technical infrastructure and payment mechanisms that support them.
The report finds an adaptive ecosystem extending well beyond fringe communities. Users can be directed from search engines and social-media content to commercial or open-source creation tools, then onward to messaging services and affiliate networks. Concentrated hosting infrastructure and complex payment arrangements help operators evade enforcement while rewarding promotion at scale.
ISD also examined user behaviour, online discourse and the legislative landscape. It argues that non-consensual imagery is driven by power, control and public humiliation as well as sexual motives, and that fragmented platform governance, weak app-store and payment oversight, and cross-border enforcement gaps require a coordinated response.
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