Taylor Swift’s name not searchable on X after sexually explicit fake images circulate

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Sky News contacted X for comment.

President on Friday Joe Biden’s A spokesperson said the star’s fake, sexually explicit images were “very alarming.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said social media companies play “an important role in enforcing their own rules,” as she urged congress to enact laws on this subject.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted in comments to NBC, Sky News’ US affiliate network, that the company needed to “act quickly” to combat the type of images circulating on social media.

The fake images of the Pop starprobably made with artificial intelligence (AI) were widely distributed this week with an image X Viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended.

The group Reality Defender, which detects deepfakes, said it has been tracking a flood of non-consensual pornographic material depicting Swift, particularly on X, but also on Meta Possession Facebook and other social media platforms.

The researchers found several dozen different AI-generated images. The most shared images were soccer-related and showed a painted or bloodied Swift objectifying her and, in some cases, causing violent harm to the deepfake version of her.

Ms Jean-Pierre said: “We will do everything we can to solve this problem.”

“While social media companies make their own, independent decisions about content management, we believe they have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to curb the spread of misinformation and non-consensual, intimate images of real people impede.”

The spokesperson also added that lax enforcement of false images too often disproportionately affects women.

“We have to take action”

Mr Nadella said the images “absolutely” raised alarm bells and said the fact that this type of content could be created and distributed meant it was incumbent on platforms to “act quickly”.

“I think we all benefit from the online world being a safe world, and so I don’t think anyone would want an online world that is completely unsafe for both content creators and consumers.” , he added.

“We have to take action.”

404 Media reported that the fake images were traced to a Telegram group chat where members said they used Microsoft’s Designer generative AI tool.

Sky News has not independently verified this claim, but Microsoft said in a statement that it is investigating the reports and will take appropriate action to respond.

Asked what can be done about the problem of fake images in general, Mr Nadella said: “I come back to what I think is our responsibility, which is all the guardrails that we need to put around the technology so that it safer content.” can be produced.

“And there is a lot to do and a lot is being done.”

He added that more can be achieved through collaboration between law enforcement agencies and technology platforms.

Social media sites condemn “violations”

Researchers have said the number of explicit deepfakes has increased in recent years as the technology used to produce such images has become more accessible and user-friendly.

In 2019, a report published by AI firm DeepTrace Labs found that explicit images were overwhelmingly used as a weapon against women.

Most of the victims were Hollywood actors and South Korean K-pop singers, the report said.

X wrote in a post on the site on Friday that they are “actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate action against the accounts responsible for posting these images.”

“We are closely monitoring the situation to ensure any further violations are addressed immediately and the content is removed.”

Read more:
Sharing explicit “deepfakes” without consent is a criminal offense
Man charged with harassment and stalking near Swift’s home
Scarlett Johansson is the latest victim of an alleged deepfake ad

Meanwhile, Meta said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the content that has appeared on various internet services” and has advocated for its removal.

“We continue to monitor our platforms for this infringing content and will take appropriate action as necessary,” the company said.

Taylor Swift’s representatives did not respond to a Sky News request for comment.