Social network X had to block searches for Taylor Swift after pornographic deepfake images of the singer spread rapidly. When searching for Taylor Swift on platform X, users will see an error message and a request to reload the page. Joe Benarroch – X’s director of business operations – said this is a preliminary action and done with caution.
Erotic images of Taylor Swift created by AI began spreading on They also asked X to be more forceful in deleting these photos and reporting accounts sharing fake photos. The slogan “protect Taylor Swift” also reached the top trends on the platform.
A day later, the reported accounts were suspended or restricted, but it was still easy to find AI hot photos on X.
In a statement over the weekend, The statement did not mention Swift by name.
“Our team is actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate action against the accounts that posted them. We will closely monitor the situation to ensure any further violations are addressed immediately and the content is removed,” X said.
Advances in generative AI have made it easier to fake someone else’s pornographic images. With X, after being owned by Elon Musk in 2022, many censorship regulations were relaxed, while he fired thousands of employees to stabilize his finances.
According to NBC News, it is unclear where the deepfake images of Taylor Swift come from, but they are stamped and appear to come from a website famous for distributing fake pornographic photos of stars. The website also has a separate section for AI deepfake. Swift’s fake photos were viewed more than 27 million times and liked more than 260,000 times after 19 hours of posting.
After the incident, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called for more barriers to be placed to regulate AI. In an interview with NBC News, he argued that we have a responsibility to monitor this emerging technology so that more safe content will be produced.
Responding to a question about Swift’s deepfakes, the head of Microsoft said: “Yes, we have to act. I think we all benefit from a safe online world. I don’t think everyone will. expect a completely unsafe online world for both content creators and content consumers. Therefore, I think we need to act quickly on this issue.”
According to 404 Media, a chat group on Telegram said it used Microsoft’s Designer AI tool to fake Taylor’s photo. Mr. Nadella did not comment directly on 404 Media’s information, but in a statement sent to this news site, Microsoft shared that it is investigating the report and will take appropriate action to handle it.
US President Joe Biden’s administration called the spread of Taylor Swift’s pornographic deepfake “alarming” and called on social networking companies to examine their “important role” in enforcing regulations to prevent Block the spread of false information and sensitive images without consent.
In October 2023, President Biden signed an executive order on AI focused on managing emerging technology and its risks.
(According to The Hill, WSJ)
