Nudification, murder- and gambling-themed apps flagged in IMDA’s first app store audit

SINGAPORE – Nudification tools as well as murder- and gambling-themed games that involve payouts were among 65 objectionable apps flagged in Singapore’s first audit of online app stores.

Nudification apps use artificial intelligence to digitally strip clothing from photos of individuals, generating non-consensual, sexually explicit images.

The audit conducted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) between April 2025 and December 2025 also found that 24 apps were not rated 18+ according to the app stores’ own requirements.

Out of 7,000 apps reviewed, these 24 apps contained material that was sexually suggestive, featured crime and drug use, as well as firearms in a school setting.

The 65 objectionable apps have since been removed, and age ratings for the 24 wrongly labelled apps have been corrected after IMDA notified these stores.

They are the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Galaxy Store and Microsoft Store.

“We will continue to hold designated app distribution services responsible for ensuring that users’ access or exposure to harmful content on their services is minimised, and that age ratings are applied accurately and consistently,” said IMDA on Oct 24.

It published these findings on Oct 24 in its inaugural Online Safety Assessment Report 2026 for Designated App Distribution Services.

The audit assesses the effectiveness of age checks, removal of harmful content and protection for children in app stores run by Apple, Google, Huawei, Microsoft, and Samsung.

Age checks and appropriate age ratings became mandatory one year after IMDA’s Code of Practice for Online Safety for App Distribution Services took effect in March 2025 to minimise children’s exposure to content containing sexual, violent, self-harm or cyberbullying themes, among others.

Overall, app stores were found to have baseline safety measures, with well-implemented age checks, said IMDA.

To prevent users under 18 from downloading inappropriate apps, stores check government-issued identity documents or credit card information, scan faces, or analyse online usage patterns.

“However, there is room for improvement in removing apps with harmful content and ensuring apps are age-rated appropriately,” said the authority.

It declined to name the removed and re-rated apps.

IMDA’s inaugural report also summarised the app stores’ online safety reports from April 1 to Dec 31, 2025.

However, IMDA said a small percentage of Huawei users on specific versions of the AppGallery could bypass age checks due to technical limitations.

There were also limited instances of under-18 Huawei and Microsoft app store users being able to download apps rated 18+ due to a lack of restrictions or loopholes that allowed children to disable the controls.

Huawei has since resolved this issue, while Microsoft has implemented an interim solution as it works towards a permanent fix, said IMDA.

While all app stores provided channels for users to flag issues such as harmful apps and fraudulent reviews, stores were either inconsistent in notifying users of report outcomes or completely failed to do so, said IMDA.

The IMDA audit also revealed that Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store failed to notify users within six months of removing an app they downloaded.

All app stores have committed to rectifying these issues, with Google and Samsung agreeing to improve their notification processes, said IMDA.

To cultivate healthy digital habits in children, the authorities are also working to introduce online safety lessons into the pre-school curriculum.

Building on a pilot initiative involving more than 100 kindergarten students from E-Bridge pre-school, this curriculum will be rolled out to 3,000 K1 and K2 pupils across 30 of its centres from December, with more pre-schools expected to join from 2027.

Parents, teens want safeguards over outright ban

Between June and August, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) also spoke to more than 2,000 parents and youth about safe social media access.

Most respondents supported age-appropriate access with stronger safeguards for younger ones, rather than an outright ban.

The top proposed safeguards are disabling auto-play and direct messaging and implementing daily screen-time limits.

Parents wanted the flexibility to adjust daily screen-time limits based on their children’s needs.

Young respondents were concerned about rigid limits, noting that these could restrict legitimate uses such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

The authorities are expected to table proposed legislation in early 2027 to better protect teens from addiction and dangerous interactions through mandatory age checks.

Default safeguards being considered include a daily time limit and restrictions on infinite scroll, auto-play and direct messages from strangers – aligning with those proposed by survey respondents.

Respondents broadly supported disabling algorithmic feeds, though some saw value in their ability to surface educational content.

“Parents felt that children should be gradually introduced to online platforms so they can learn to navigate social media in a safer environment,” said MDDI on Oct 24.

Young people interviewed also said overly restrictive measures could risk a “forbidden fruit” effect, making social media more appealing.

Notably, most respondents suggested that children aged six and below should not use social media at all, while those between seven and 12 could have access – with proper safeguards.

This highlights a desire for supervised access for younger children, well below the minimum age of 13 set by most social media platforms.

Earlier in August, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned that platforms that fail to keep teens safe from features that fuel addiction may be required to raise their minimum age beyond 13.

Some parents and youth cautioned against relying solely on age to determine the maturity of young users.

Most parents supported both age verification and age estimation techniques to verify user ages, calling the former more accurate. Concerned about excessive personal data collection, parents said that identity verification should be done by the government, not platforms.

The engagements with 2,000 parents and teens comprised focus group discussions, school dialogues and a survey on CrowdTaskSG. Additional sessions conducted by community partners, including TOUCH Community Services, Fei Yue Community Services, YouthTechSG and Singapore Children’s Society, provided further perspectives that informed the overall findings.

Excessive social media use, screen addiction, inappropriate content, interactions with strangers, misinformation and scams were the top concerns among respondents.

Even so, young respondents generally supported greater access to social media from age 16, when they have greater maturity and capacity to manage their social media use independently.

“Everyone has social media by then. Activities are also more tech-reliant and may necessitate the use of social media,” said one youth participant, explaining why children aged 16 should have access.