Australia’s online safety regulator has launched enforcement action against an Argentina-based AI nudify service, alleging it is failing to adequately protect children from accessing sexually explicit deepfake material.
The eSafety Commissioner has served a Direction to Comply under the Age-Restricted Material Codes, giving the provider 14 days to strengthen protections or face further action, including multi-million dollar penalties.
eSafety told the Epoch Times it would not name the service at this time to avoid “unnecessarily amplifying” or drawing further attention to it.
The regulator alleges AI nudify service enables users to upload images of real individuals and generate sexually explicit synthetic content on demand. eSafety said the service was visited “tens of thousands of times a month” in Australia.
Penalties of Up to $49.5 Million
The Commissioner has warned non-compliance could lead to penalties of up to $49.5 million, as well as search engine delisting powers.
eSafety said it had attempted to engage with the provider after the Age Restricted Material codes commenced in March 2026, but received no response.
“The Argentina-based provider failed to respond and has not committed to improving protections for children,” eSafety said.
Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the popularity of this nudify platform and the ease with which children could access it was deeply concerning.
“These are services that enable the creation of sexually explicit content involving real people and are extremely caustic to adults (mostly women) but also pose an unacceptable risk to children,” she said.
What Are the Age Restricted Material Codes?
The Age-Restricted Material Codes came into force in March 2026 under Australia’s Online Safety Act 2021 and are enforced by the eSafety Commissioner.
The codes require platforms to take “reasonable steps” to stop children accessing pornography, violent content, and other age-inappropriate material.
Three codes began in December 2025 covering hosting services, internet providers, and search engines. Six more started in March 2026, covering app stores, device makers, social media, messaging services, and other online services.
Age Restricted Codes Complement Social Media Ban
The enforcement action comes alongside wider government efforts to strengthen online safety protections, including restrictions on under-16s using social media platforms.
Unlike the government’s under-16 social media restrictions, which focus on preventing children from holding social media accounts, the Age-Restricted Material Codes apply more broadly to online services hosting pornography, violent material, and other harmful content, including AI-generated sexually explicit material.
Communications Minister Anika Wells has previously criticised major technology companies over compliance with the measures.
“I’m completely dissatisfied with where Big Tech is up to in terms of its compliance obligations,” she said on May 4.
Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson also accused the Labor government of failing to keep children safe online recently.
“The social media ban shows the government is big on announcements, hopeless on implementation, and missing in action on tough policy solutions,” she said on March 31.
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