eSafety’s Action on Age-Restricted Material
Three AI-powered nudifying services have ceased operations in Australia due to regulatory pressure from eSafety over child safety concerns, as reported on 25th June.
These services, allowing users to create age-restricted content, were targeted for not implementing age-assurance measures to prevent minors from accessing explicit material. Last month, the eSafety Commissioner issued a formal Direction to Comply to a major service with 50,000 monthly visits.
ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant commented, “These so-called ‘nudify’ services are not harmless tools and have absolutely no positive use case; they are increasingly being used to generate degrading and abusive content, including sexual exploitation material involving children.”
Impact on Online Safety
The restriction affects Australians’ access to these services, with their content now blurred and login functionalities disabled. The services have indicated they will remain offline until age assurance measures are in place. This move aligns with eSafety’s broader focus on regulating generative AI and associated services.
Ms Inman Grant highlighted the importance of age assurance as a safeguard, stating, “Age assurance is by no means a silver bullet, but it is a critical safeguard that will help stop children accessing these services and reduce the creation of deeply harmful and non-consensual material.”
Following eSafety’s directives, failure to comply could have resulted in further regulatory action, including civil penalties up to $49.5 million. ESafety is examining gatekeeper services like app stores to ensure they meet obligations related to ‘nudifying’ apps.
The Australian Government had previously announced its intention to legislate a ban on nudify services to prevent the non-consensual generation of explicit material. ESafety will continue to enforce regulations to protect Australians from these services.
In early June, eSafety issued another Direction to Comply to a different nudify service, continuing their crackdown on such services. The company’s compliance will determine future access to its platform.
ESafety’s enforcement actions reflect their commitment to adding friction to the tech ecosystem, ensuring that harmful content is not easily accessible or monetized by malicious entities.
Last updated: 29 June 2026, 11:46 am
