No, you shouldn’t click on DeepNude.to, which allows anyone to upload photos of women and see them “nude.” But know that it exists. Anyone can create a convincing nude of any woman for free. Or, um, unlimited nudes for $20/month. No revenge porn problem here!
Since you’re not clicking on it, here are three things to know about this site and why you should avoid it:
- Historical lineage: DeepNude.to follows its infamous predecessor, DeepNude, which debuted last year to great fanfare and outrage and was removed from the internet last summer by its developers, who faced backlash. DeepNude.to developers have avoided this fate by remaining anonymous.
- About the company: Its slogans are “The superpower you always wanted” and “The most important technological development of our time.” Not one to miss a business opportunity, the DeepNude.to Twitter feed offers a link to 10-packs of N95 masks, as well as free premium DeepNude.to accounts to patients in a COVID-19 London hospital.
- Your moral guidelines on this: The app is the embodiment of nonconsent. A woman takes initiative to put on clothes, and an anonymous user removes them. This detail is clouded by the program’s smart-humor feel and double anonymity (users are protected by bitcoin transactions, and of course the developers are unseen), which make the program feel harmless. Ethically speaking, using the site is essentially a sex violation, like stripping and photographing a sleeping woman. Legally speaking, it could be considered harassment.
The Apple and Google app stores have tiptoed into this arena. They don’t offer a DeepNude.to app but do sell apps such as Nüdifier, which pixelates photos so it appears that people are nude but blurred out. (Specifically, Nüdifier “makes the mysterious and previously high-cost process of Nüdification™ available to everyone. Snap a photo, paint off clothes and frame your nudified photo for sharing with everyone! Instant embarrassment!”) Nüdifier’s successful trademark application describes it in more benign terms, as a “computer application software for mobile phones, namely, software for capturing and manipulating photographs.” Right.
DeepNude.to’s homepage says I see nude people. We see heinous people.
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