Deepfake Porn: The Rise of Sexual Violence Committed through Artificial Intelligence
WWYW | 20 April 2023 | WWYW Articles
Cast your mind to this scenario:
It’s an ordinary day and as per usual you’re scrolling through social media trying to pass the time between commitments.
On the top part of your screen, you see a message notification from a friend.
Not expecting anything out of the ordinary you open it only to be instantly confused and concerned from the contents of the message.
For some reason, unbeknownst to yourself, they have sent you a porn link along with a frightened and erratic text message telling you that you are somehow connected to the contents of the video.
For a brief moment, out of sheer confusion you think this is all some weird joke.
“What connection could I have with that stuff?” You mutter in perplexation.
Yet the tense nature of the conversation leads you to doubt this sense of reassurance and you open the link to try and put your mind at ease.
To your horror however, as you open the link, you don’t see any ordinary porn stars.
Instead, you see yourself engaged in a sexual act, with a person you’ve never met in a location you’ve never been to.
The scenario depicted above seems like a work of science fiction set in a dystopian future. However, not only is this nightmare scenario possible it is already affecting thousands of victims each day.[1]
This type of sexual violence is known as deepfake pornography.
Deepfake pornography is the new big bad in the adult film industry. It has the capacity to victimise anyone and everyone, and at this stage there appears to be no effective way to defeat it.[2]
What are Deepfakes?
A deepfake is essentially an algorithm which imposes an image upon another for the purposes of being perceived as a realistic depiction.[3] The term “deepfake” is derived from the Artificial Intelligence which forms its underlying technology known as “Deep learning”.[4]
For many, deepfakes aren’t anything new. Most of us probably interact with them every day on a consensual basis.
Snapchat filters for example utilise deepfakes in a mostly trivial way.
While the film and television industry utilise this technology for many purposes including the de-aging of celebrities in movies.[5]
However, the use of deepfakes for entertainment purposes only makes up 20% of its total application.[6]
It is estimated that anywhere upwards from 80% of deepfake application has been used to make pornography.[7] The vast majority of which is made without the consent of the depicted individuals.[8]
Who are the Victims of Deepfake Pornography?
The terrifying thing about this technology is that unlike traditional forms of sexual violence, deepfakes have the capacity to harm anyone and everyone.
For a perpetrator to victimise a person all they simply need is a collection of photos of that individual.[9] They can then utilise deepfake technology to superimpose an individual’s likeness onto the bodies of other people engaging in sexual intercourse.[10]
Over the last decade, the rapid advancement of this technology has resulted in the production of thousands of videos showing deepfakes with an uncanny likeness to their victims.[11]
The perpetrators of this form of sexual violence often commit these acts of exploitation for the purposes of fulfilling their own sexual desires and to generate a profit from its distribution.[12]
A such, it is often celebrities, mostly female who have become the victims of this sexual violence.[13]
Just last month, Twitch streamer Blaire, known online as QTCinderella, revealed that she had become the victim of deepfake pornography after an adult video featuring her likeness had gone viral.[14] In an emotional video posted to social media she revealed that the traumatic experience had left her “distraught” and severely psychologically scarred.[15]
However, Blaire is just one of an enormous group of individuals who have become victims of this form of sexual violence. The prevalence of these videos is so high that if you were to type in the name of a famous female celebrity on a pornography website you’d be almost guaranteed to see them depicted in some kind of pornographic image or video.[16]
How does it Affect Victims?
The experience of Blaire is one shared by the many victims of deepfake pornography.
Victims will often convey that they feel a severe sense of violation and the trauma has left them feeling severely mentally distressed.[17] Further, victims who have been physically violated in the past will often state that the trauma they experience from deepfakes porn is almost identical to their past victimisation.[18] This trauma has also been observed to adversely affect a victim’s work and social lives, leading many to retreat from social interaction.[19]
What distinguishes this trauma from other forms of sexual violence is the fact that it is inescapable. A victim must live with the fact that these depictions have been circulated by countless observers and are near impossible to erase from the internet.[20]
Further, victims also experience increased victim blaming and denial of their trauma in comparison to other forms of sexual violence.[21] Partly, since people fail to resonate with victim trauma to the same extent as physical violence.[22]
What has been done to Prevent Deepfake Pornography Victimisation?
The issues relating to protecting victims and punishing perpetrators have already been briefly discussed. The primary issue is the fact that the offenders are anonymous and perpetrate through the internet.[23] As such they are not physically arrest-able.[24]
However, jurisdictions, local and abroad, have made an attempt to deter and punish offenders for creating and distributing deepfake pornography. The United Kingdom for example, has recently amended its Online Safety Bill to criminally punish those who share and create deep fake pornography.[25] Similar legislation has also been created in the US states of California and Virginia.[26]
In Australia, the sharing and creation of deepfake pornography is an offence under the Online Safety Act 2021.The Act imposes fines and/ or criminal punishments on perpetrators found guilty of this offence.[27] The government service eSaftey can also be contacted to assist Australians in removing this material.[28]
While these laws and mechanisms are a step in the right direction, there is only so far they can go in enforcing the law. Government intervention may remove deepfake pornography from one corner of the internet. However, it appears near impossible for it to be completely erased.[29]
As such, until there is technology capable of effectively eliminating deepfake pornography and tracking its creators and distributors, it appears that it will continue to remain incredibly difficult to assist victims.
If you are a victim of deepfake pornography, please access this website:
If you or anyone you know is a victim of abuse or violence of any kind please reach out to 18000 Respect on this number:
1800 737 732.
Reference List
1. Please see S Maddocks, “‘A Deepfake Porn Plot Intended to Silence Me’: exploring continuities between pornographic and ‘political’ deep fakes.” (2020) 7(4) Porn Studies 415, 415.
2. K, Mania, ‘Legal Protection of Revenge and Deepfake Porn Victims in the European Union: Findings From a Comparative Legal Study’ (2022) 0(0) Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 1, 5.
3. A de Ruiter, ‘The Distinct Wrong of Deepfakes’ (2021) 34(4) Philosophy & Technology 1311, 1316.
4. Ibid, 1317.
5. Cf Rouge One: A Star Wars Story (Lucas films, 2016) Peter Cushing whom had died some decades ago was brought back to life through computer animation deepfake technology.
6. Karen Hao, ‘Deepfake porn is ruining women’s lives. Now the law may finally ban it.’ (2021) MIT Technology Review.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. C Kerner & M Risse, ‘Beyond Porn and Discreditation: Epistemic Promises and Perils of Deepfake Technology in Digital Lifeworlds’ (2021) 8(1) Moral Philosophy and Politics 81, 86.
10. Ibid, 88.
11. Ruiter (n 3) 1316.
12. C Gosse & J Burkell, ‘Politics and porn: how news media characterizes problems presented by deepfakes’ (2020) 37(5) Critical Studies in Media Communication 497, 505.
13. Claudia Willen, ‘Kristen Bell says she was “shocked” to learn that her face was used in a pornographic deepfake video’ (2020) Insider.
14. Natalie Brown, ‘Blaire’s “adult” video went viral – only problem was, it wasn’t her’ (2023) News.com.au.
15. Ibid.
16. See Hao (n 6).
17. See Gosse & Burkell (n 12) 507.
18. Brown (n 14).
19. Ibid.
20. Kerner & Risse (n 9) 88.
21. Brown (n 14)
22. Ibid
23. See ibid.
24. See ibid.
25. Dan Milmo, ‘Age checks, trolls and deepfakes: what’s in the online safety bill?’ (2023) The Guardian.
26. Brown (n 14).
27. See Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), s 6 & s 7.
28. Brown (n 14)
29. Gosse & Burkell (n 12), 505.
