Protesters gathered outside Apple’s Cupertino campus on June 8, 2026, during the company’s annual developer conference WWDC, calling on Apple to remove “nudify apps” from the App Store and take action against child sexual abuse material (CSAM) stored on iCloud.
The demonstration was organized by UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, and Heat Initiative, a group focused on holding tech companies accountable for enabling and profiting from child sexual abuse. Protesters erected a large sign outside Apple’s visitors center reading “Apple is powered by child sexual abuse” and directed a pointed question at incoming CEO John Ternus: “What will you do?”
The protest follows scrutiny earlier in 2026 of both Apple and Google for keeping apps on their platforms — including xAI’s Grok — that allowed users to generate nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes. Pamphlets distributed at the event cited data from the Tech Transparency Project, claiming that at least 47 nudify apps have been found on Apple’s App Store and that Apple has earned an estimated minimum of $117 million from such apps, including an estimated $35 million or more from Grok alone.
The protest also renewed attention to Apple’s decision to previously scrap plans to scan iCloud photos for CSAM, a move the company made citing privacy concerns.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UltraViolet has also launched a dedicated website in connection with the protest.
Source: The Verge