The Taylor Swift photo case has caused so much attention that members of the White House have spoken out about it (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Platform X has blocked searches related to Taylor Swift after sexually explicit images of the pop star created using artificial intelligence (AI) were widely shared. This episode highlights the growing concern of social networks to address the problem of deepfakes: realistic images and audio generated with AI that can be used to depict famous people in compromising or misleading situations without their consent.
You may be interested in: Elon Musk visited Auschwitz after the controversy surrounding the rise of anti-Semitism on the platform
Over the weekend, an attempt was made to search for terms like “Taylor Swift” or “Taylor AI” on X led to error messages, after AI-generated pornographic images of the singer were spread online in recent days. This resulted in even legitimate content via Swift becoming more difficult to access on the platform.
Searches for Taylor Swift were blocked on X after explicit AI-generated images of the singer were leaked (Source: X)
Joe BenarrochHead of Commercial Operations at X explained This measure is temporary and it was taken as a precautionary measure to prioritize security in this matter. To date, Swift has not made any public comments about the incident.
You may be interested in: What Elon Musk says is needed to monetize in X
The incident occurs in a context where X was acquired by the billionaire businessman Elon Musk for $44 billion, has reduced content moderation resources and relaxed its policies, reflecting Musk's free speech ideals.
An active marketplace of tools allows anyone to use AI to create videos or images in the image of a celebrity or politician in just a few clicks. Although deepfake technology has been available for several years, recent advances in AI have made it easier to create more realistic images. Experts warn that fake pornography is one of the most common new abuses of deepfake technology, and also point to its increasing use in political disinformation campaigns.
In the last year, deepfakes have become popular thanks to artificial intelligence tools that allow for much more realistic results.
As one of the most influential people in the world, Taylor Swift's case reached the White House press secretary. Karine Jean Pierrewho called the spread of false images “alarming” and reiterated that while private companies have their own rules to regulate content, they also have a responsibility to their users that they must fulfill.
You may be interested: MrBeast will give away $25,000 to his followers with this contest: How to become a winner
“Although social media companies make their own, independent decisions about content management, We believe they have an important role in enforcing their own standards“.
On January 26th, the official security account of “Zero tolerance policy for such content.” The company said its teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate action against the accounts responsible, as well as closely monitoring the situation.
After the scandal
However,
According to a report by technology news site 404 Media, the images could come from the controversial platform 4chan and the messaging application Telegram.