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

The audit also found that 24 apps were not rated 18+ according to the app stores’ own requirements.

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Published Oct 24, 2026, 12:40 PM

Updated Oct 24, 2026, 12:40 PM

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 between April 2025 and December 2025 also found that 24 apps were not rated 18+ according to the app stores’ own requirements. 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 app stores’ online safety reports covering the period between April 1 and Dec 31, 2025.

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

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 turn off the restrictions.

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 reporting 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 after an app they had downloaded was removed.

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.

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 suggested that children aged six and below should not use social media at all, while those between seven and 12 could have access if proper safeguards are in place. This highlights a desire for supervised access for younger children, well below the minimum age of 13 set by most social media platforms.

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

Features being considered include a daily time limit and restrictions on infinite scroll, autoplay and direct messages from strangers.

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.

AI/artificial intelligence

IMDA/Infocomm Media Development Authority

审计还发现，有 24 个应用程序未按照应用商店自身的要求评为 18+ 级。

《海峡时报》摄影：郭志雄

发布于2026年10月24日下午12:40

更新于2026年10月24日下午12:40

新加坡——在新加坡首次对在线应用商店进行审计时，共有 65 款令人反感的应用被列入名单，其中包括裸露工具以及涉及赔付的谋杀和赌博主题游戏。

裸体化应用程序利用人工智能技术，以数字方式从个人照片中剥离衣物，生成未经同意的、露骨的性图像。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局于2025年4月至12月进行的审计还发现，有24款应用程序未按照应用商店自身的评级标准评为18+。这24款应用程序包含性暗示内容、涉及犯罪和毒品使用的内容，以及在校园环境中出现枪支的内容。

在新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）通知相关应用商店后，65款存在问题的应用已被下架，24款被错误标记的应用的年龄分级也已更正。这些应用商店包括苹果应用商店、谷歌应用商店、华为应用市场、三星应用商店和微软应用商店。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 于 10 月 24 日表示：“我们将继续要求指定的应用程序分发服务商承担责任，确保用户在其服务中接触到有害内容的可能性降至最低，并确保年龄分级得到准确、一致的应用。”

该机构于 10 月 24 日发布了这些调查结果，并推出了首份《2026 年指定应用程序分发服务在线安全评估报告》。

该审计评估了苹果、谷歌、华为、微软和三星运营的应用商店中年龄检查、有害内容删除和儿童保护的有效性。

为尽量减少儿童接触包含性、暴力、自残或网络欺凌等主题的内容，新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 于 2025 年 3 月颁布了《应用程序分发服务在线安全行为准则》，一年后，年龄检查和适当的年龄评级成为强制性要求。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 表示，总体而言，应用商店都具备基本的安全措施，年龄检查也得到了很好的实施。

为了防止 18 岁以下的用户下载不合适的应用程序，应用商店会检查政府颁发的身份证明文件或信用卡信息、扫描人脸或分析在线使用模式。

该机构表示：“然而，在移除含有有害内容的应用程序以及确保应用程序的年龄分级适当方面，仍有改进空间。” 该机构拒绝透露已被移除和重新评级的应用程序名称。

IMDA 的首份报告还总结了应用商店在 2025 年 4 月 1 日至 12 月 31 日期间的在线安全报告。

IMDA表示，由于技术限制，华为AppGallery特定版本中的一小部分用户可能可以绕过年龄检查。

由于缺乏限制或漏洞，导致未满 18 岁的华为和微软应用商店用户能够下载评级为 18+ 的应用，这种情况较为罕见，因为这些限制或漏洞允许儿童关闭限制。

IMDA表示，华为已经解决了这个问题，而微软则实施了临时解决方案，同时也在努力寻求永久解决方案。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 表示，虽然所有应用商店都为用户提供了举报渠道，以便他们标记有害应用和欺诈性评论等问题，但各商店要么在通知用户举报结果方面不一致，要么完全没有这样做。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 的审计还发现，谷歌应用商店和三星应用商店在用户下载的应用被下架后的六个月内，未能通知用户。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 表示，所有应用商店都已承诺纠正这些问题，谷歌和三星也同意改进其通知流程。

为了培养儿童健康的数字习惯，有关部门也在努力将网络安全课程引入学前教育课程。

该课程以 E-Bridge 幼儿园 100 多名学前班学生参与的试点项目为基础，将于 12 月起在其 30 个中心的 3000 名 K1 和 K2 学生中推广，预计从 2027 年起将有更多幼儿园加入。

6 月至 8 月期间，数字发展和信息部 (MDDI) 还与 2000 多名家长和青少年讨论了安全使用社交媒体的问题。

大多数受访者认为，6岁及以下儿童完全不应使用社交媒体，而7至12岁的儿童如果能采取适当的安全措施则可以访问。这凸显了人们希望对远低于大多数社交媒体平台设定的13岁最低年龄限制的低龄儿童进行监督式使用。

当局预计将于 2027 年初提交立法提案，通过强制年龄检查等措施，更好地保护青少年免受毒瘾和危险互动的侵害。

正在考虑的功能包括每日时间限制，以及限制无限滚动、自动播放和接收陌生人的私信。

8 月初，总理黄循财警告说，如果平台不能保护青少年免受助长成瘾的功能的影响，可能会被要求将最低年龄提高到 13 岁以上。

人工智能

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局/IMDA