Searches for Taylor Swift on X appear to be blocked after explicit AI-generated images of the star spread across the internet.
When fans tried to look up the popular songwriter's name on the social media platform on Saturday, they were only met with an error message that simply read: “Posts are not loading. Please try again.”
The cause of this issue remains unclear, but the timing of the suspension may be related to a series of AI-generated graphic images showing Swift engaging in a series of sexual acts while wearing Kansas City Chiefs memorabilia and at the stadium.
Swift has been a regular at Chiefs games since she went public with her romance with star player Travis Kelce.
As of Saturday afternoon, users can still get around the problem by putting the superstar's name in quotation marks or searching for it in the media section of the platform.
Ironically, all of the very explicit AI-generated images first appeared in the Media tab before X began suspending accounts that re-shared them last week.
Searches for Taylor Swift on X appear to be blocked after explicit AI-generated images of the star spread across the internet
When fans tried to look up the popular songwriter's name on the social media platform on Saturday, they were only met with an error message
As of Saturday afternoon, users can still get around the problem by putting the superstar's name in quotation marks or searching for it in the media section of the platform
Casey Newton, founder and editor of technology newsletter Platformer, noticed the blockage and shared it in the thread.
He wrote: “X is currently showing *no* search results for 'Taylor Swift,' which I think was the only real option left after the company got rid of almost its entire trust and security team.”
The singer was furious over the images and is considering legal action against the sick deepfake porn site that hosts them, exclusively revealed earlier this week.
The images were originally uploaded to Celeb Jihad, a website that defies state porn laws and is still faster than cybercrime squads.
They soon spread across X, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. X and Reddit began removing the posts Thursday morning after alerted them to some of the accounts.
A source close to Swift said: “Whether or not legal action will be taken is still being decided, but one thing is clear: these fake AI-generated images are offensive, insulting, exploitative and are created without Taylor's consent and knowledge.”
“The Twitter account that posted it no longer exists.” It's shocking that the social media platform even allowed it.
“These images must be removed from wherever they exist and should not be promoted by anyone.”
“Taylor's family and friends are beside themselves, and so are her fans.” They have the right to do this, and every woman should be.
“The door must remain closed.” To prevent this, laws must be passed and laws must be enacted.”
The vile sites hide in plain sight and appear to be disguised by proxy IP addresses.
X released a statement almost a day after the images began publishing, saying: “Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate action against the accounts responsible for publishing these images.”
A Meta spokesperson told : “This content violates our policies and we are removing it from our platforms and taking action against the accounts that posted it.”
“We continue to monitor and if we identify additional infringing content, we will remove it and take appropriate action.”
This is a developing story.