Durbin Presses Zuckerberg On Meta's Role Directing Traffic To Problematic Nudify App

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his company’s role in directing traffic to Crushmate or Crush AI (“Crush”), an app used to create nonconsensual deepfake intimate imagery. Crush reportedly receives approximately 90 percent of its traffic from Meta platforms via thousands of explicit ads purchased by Crush in violation of Meta’s Advertising Standards, featuring nonconsensual nudity of celebrities and influencers.

Durbin begins the letter by outlining the troubling reports, writing: “I write regarding troubling reports that advertisements on Instagram and other Meta platforms are generating a significant amount of traffic for Crushmate or Crush AI (“Crush”), an app that allows—and, in fact, encourages—users to create nonconsensual deepfake intimate imagery.  Because Meta has allowed Crush to run advertisements on mainstream platforms like Instagram, a significant number of Meta users have now accessed a highly problematic, otherwise little used app.  I want to know how Meta allowed this to happen and what Meta is doing to address this dangerous trend.”

Durbin continues the letter by highlighting the prevalence and apparent noncompliance of these advertisements, writing: “Each ad for Crush violates Meta’s Advertising Standards, including its prohibitions on ads that feature Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity and ads that include certain forms of Bullying and Harassment. Yet, the ads are prevalent on Meta’s platforms. In the first two weeks of this year alone, Meta ran at least 8,010 ads for Crush. It appears that Crush is evading Meta’s enforcement efforts through a simple strategy. The company creates dozens of fake advertiser profiles on Meta, often with AI-generated profile pictures. It then employs multiple domains that redirect to Crush to evade detection. Once caught, the company repeats the process.”

Durbin continues the letter by stressing the harm that nudify apps like Crush have on victims, writing: “Because this easily used software is now so readily accessible through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, middle schools and high schools around the country are grappling with shocking acts of image-based abuse committed by students on other students. The generation and dissemination of nonconsensual, deepfake intimate imagery are acts of abuse and violations of privacy that inflict lasting harm on victims. Victims can feel destabilized when they lose control over their likeness and identity and can feel powerless to remove the illicit content or to prevent it from being produced again. They may experience depression, anxiety, and a fear of being in public. This can have the effect of silencing victims, causing them to withdraw from online spaces and public discourse as a protective measure. These images may be used to harass victims and damage their employment, education, or reputation, or to further criminal activity such as extortion and stalking. In the worst cases, they drive victims to suicide.”

Durbin closes the letter with a call for Meta to act before issuing a series of information requests, writing: “Tech companies should not assist malevolent actors who seek to take advantage of women and children. I am gravely concerned with Meta’s failure to prevent this perverse abuse of its platforms and I refuse to accept Meta’s facilitation of these crimes. I therefore urge Meta to join us in combatting this threat.”

Click here for a PDF copy of the letter to Mark Zuckerberg.

Durbin is committed to ensuring children’s online safety. Last Congress, Durbin’s bipartisan Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 (DEFIANCE Act) passed the Senate, but the bill stalled in the Republican-controlled House. The legislation would hold accountable those responsible for the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexually-explicit “deepfake” images and videos.

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