YouTube and X Become ‘Gateways’ to Nudify Apps

Many are well known Social media platforms have strict guidelines to prevent publication Unacceptable intimate photos (NCII), or pornographic images and videos. But a new report found that many social networking sites direct users to such resources.

A report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), anti-to the extreme and disinformation organization, monitors online activity that enables the proliferation of apps and websites called “nudify”, which allow users to digitally undress people without their consent.

The learningwhich was published on Monday, looked at the top 10 apps and websites used to create illegal deep dives, and how people are finding them. It found that a surprising number of people posting were not from small, poorly regulated online communities like 4chan, but from many social media platforms.

According to the ISD report, social media drove more than 5.7 million visits to the site between December 2025 and March 2026. The driver was YouTube, which had 1.82 million visits, or more than 30 percent of the sent.

Such videos, which resulted from searches for keywords like “uncover app” or “nudify app,” range from reviewing and promoting specific apps, to linking to promotional codes to offer free credits. X was the second most popular source of traffic to websites, with more than 1.3 million visits, according to the survey.

The study’s authors wrote that the findings appear to be “in direct conflict” with YouTube’s policy, which prohibits pornography. “This should include nudity websites or devices that create pornographic images without permission,” the report says. “However, content that violates these policies was easily found and found on the platform, turning it into a gateway to creating websites.”

“It wasn’t just that YouTube was a ‘source of information’ for people to send people,” Melanie Smith, ISD’s director of research and policy, told WIRED.

Interestingly, Smith said, YouTube’s policies not only prohibit posting pornography, they also prohibit posting links or advertising to pornographic sites (for example, linking to OnlyFans). “In the sense that it’s appropriate to hide inappropriate images and retaliate against pornography, or to release nude images, but it doesn’t seem to be enforced enough,” he says.

In response to WIRED’s request for comment, YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle said, “We have strict policies against content that involves sexually explicit material, such as sharing intimate images without permission.” He said the policy also applies to content on YouTube and external links, and includes “edited or created images of nudity.”

The study also looked at the prices and availability of sex toys, and some programs and websites that allow users to make sex videos for $1 a photo. Although it’s relatively inexpensive to use the platform, it can be very profitable, as a recent report by WIRED finds that they can be. making $36 million in all amounts.

The most common targets of porn apps include current and former boyfriends, as well as (disturbingly) family members such as sisters and cousins, the study found. The authors were also surprised to find that the motivations of people who use genitalia are not necessarily about “natural sex,” says Smith: “Most of the requests were about putting people out of work and undermining their livelihoods and living a rough life.”

Nudify apps have become a big hit on many social media platforms. In some cases, the platform will not only allow these AI-generated images to spread, but will help people create them.