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File photo of Taylor Swift at a football game in late January
| Photo Credit: AP
X (formerly Twitter) is blocking search queries related to American singer Taylor Swift after explicit and violent AI-generated images of her were shared on its platform as well as other social media platforms such as Meta’s Facebook.
Search queries on X including ‘Taylor Swift’ and ‘Taylor Swift AI’ resulted in a blank error page that suggested users retry their search.
Screenshot of the search results from X
| Photo Credit:
X
On January 26, X’s Safety Team posted that it had a zero tolerance policy towards non-consensual nudity (NCN) and that it was working to remove images and take action against the makers.
However, false media content featuring Swift was still visible, including other deepfakes. For example: one such image showed her as an obese individual eating fast food, while another depicted her hugging former U.S. President Donald Trump while wearing a hat in support of him.
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Microsoft was investigating whether any of its services were used to create the explicit deepfakes, and CEO Satya Nadella condemned the act. The White House also expressed its alarm early in the week.
Experts have warned that deepfakes are commonly used to target female celebrities in sexually abusive ways. In India, actor Rashmika Mandanna spoke out against the manipulation of technology to target people, after deepfake videos featuring her were shared online. Many of these deepfakes were openly accessible on X even days after she flagged them.
Swift, who has over 94 million followers on X, is yet to issue a public statement. Meanwhile, fans known as “Swifties” rushed to her support and filled common search terms and hashtags with real photos of the musician’s happier moments in order to bury any non-consensual images.
Technologists are waiting to see if she will take legal action against the company responsible for the AI image maker used to target her.
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