Deepfakes have always fascinated me. “Deepfake is a term for videos and presentations enhanced by artificial intelligence and other modern technology to present falsified results.”1(technopedia) The videos where you can see somebody’s face morphed onto another’s body along with the conspiracy videos about deep fakes have been the type of videos I can watch for hours. Deepfakes are But what if deepfakes took a wrong turn?
I have heard about deepfakes being misused in revenge porn-like forms. “Deepfakes are mostly weaponised against women and girls; a dangerous new frontier in so-called “revenge porn”.”2(Melville,K. The insidious rise of deepfake porn videos — and one woman who won’t be silenced) This became more prominent as people began to find videos of themselves on the internet.
“Noelle Martin was an 18-year-old law student when, late one night, she did a reverse Google image search out of curiosity, … Instead, hundreds of explicit images of her face photoshopped onto the bodies of porn actresses engaged in sexual acts flooded her screen.”2 (Melville,K. The insidious rise of deepfake porn videos — and one woman who won’t be silenced)
Revenge porn is not a new thing, it has been the ugly underbelly of the internet. The new element is the deepfakes being more accessible to the large public. Deepfakes are not an evil thing on its own. The people misusing them to harm other people are an unfortunate abuse of a new technology. And since it is such a new technology, laws regarding the misuse of deepfakes are not in place yet. Being careful with new technology, especially where everything has a share button and can be spread far and wide, is becoming more crucial.
The good news is that there are laws being placed in regard of deepfakes. “Virginia has officially expanded its nonconsensual pornography ban to include realistic fake videos and photos, including computer-generated “deepfakes.” The amendment was passed earlier this year and goes into effect today, making Virginia one of the first places with a law covering deepfakes.”3 (Robertson A. Virginia’s ‘revenge porn’ laws now officially cover deepfakes). Abuse of new technology is not a new thing. But with new problems presenting themselves every day, I feel like people are more aware of fake things on the internet and new precautions are being placed faster.
Resources:
1 https://www.techopedia.com/definition/33835/deepfake
4 Photo: Photo by Hailey Kean on Unsplash