Deep fakes initially gained widespread attention in the political arena as videos of presidential candidates and prominent political leaders were being manipulated with the intention of spreading misinformation and propagating fake news. However, as technology has evolved, so has the sophistication of deep fakes. These AI-driven fabrications have morphed into a different and more disturbing beast, expanding their reach far beyond the political sphere.
Content being uploaded to the internet via live streams and social media apps can now be manipulated into nonconsensual pornographic videos and images. It is possible that anyone with a basic understanding of computers and a limited amount of skills can construct these pornographic deep fakes. These fake videos are not created by those with access to advanced technology, anyone’s angry ex-boyfriend, an obsessed fan, or random online stalker can now create and upload hyper-realistic pornographic deep fakes. Plenty of women have been targeted and attacked with these pornographic deep fakes, including actress Scarlett Johansson, a Twitch streamer QTCinderella, and a handful of women who remain anonymous for protective reasons.
Artificial Intelligence is among the leading conversations in academia, politics, education, and media. Despite its dominant presence in the technological advancements of the new age, there is still a massive gray area when it comes to the social, legal, and ethical implications of AI in our society. The creation of deep fakes is one area of AI that presents an interesting issue when considering topics of privacy, consent, and exploitation.
“Deep Fakes” are sophisticated video or audio depictions that use advanced AI technology and generative machine learning to seamlessly replace faces, voices, and characters, entirely altering the meaning or intended message of the original video. In a time where AI is being integrated into media, politics, and our daily lives, it is imperative to explore and analyze the intricacies of deep fakes and examine the multifaceted legal, and social consequences they bring to our society. This is especially dangerous because these video and audio constructions have the ability to reshape our perceptions of reality, and truth, destroying what limited trust we have left in digital media. As this technology continues to advance without adequate legal constraints, people will be unable to recognize the difference between reality and augmented reality, redefining our definition of truth and fiction. Furthermore, deep fakes and pornographic fakes have the potential to tarnish not only the reputations of celebrities and public officials but also the reputations of unsuspecting citizens simply sharing their lives, hobbies, and passions on the internet.
Earlier this year Twitch streamer QTCinderella was the victim of a very unsettling and invasive pornographic deep fake that circulated online while she was streaming. QTCinderella, formally known as “Blaire”, and other female Twitch streamers have complained about pornographic deep fakes being bought and sold online with a large and vocal male audience. Twitch is a widely popular live streaming platform and community where streamers, watchers, and gamers are able to contribute to a social network focused on video game-related content but has, in recent years, been a place for streamers to broadcast random content.
QTCinderella streams on Twitch while she plays popular video games and has grown a largely male audience because of this. Unfortunately, women in the gaming industry often face a lot of misogyny, objectification, and discrimination while just trying to enjoy a game and platform like other male streamers and gamers. According to Reach3, a marketing technology research company, 77% of women gamers experience harassment and discrimination while gaming, including name-calling, inappropriate sexual messages, and exclusion. Acknowledging the already intimidating and unsafe environment these majority male audiences can create for female gamers and streamers, it is hard to ignore that pornographic deep fakes put these women in a very vulnerable position. In an interview with the New York Post, Blaire expressed her annoyance with the legal system that she could not find a lawyer who could possibly support her in suing those who made the embarrassing and degrading deep fakes, she explains “I’m so exhausted and I think you guys need to know what pain looks like because this is it,” the gamer wept. “This is what it looks like to feel violated. This is what it feels like to be taken advantage of, this is what it looks like to see yourself naked against your will being spread all over the internet. This is what it looks like.”
Deepfakes have the potential to change legal and political policy, and they present new and unique cavities for the legal system, including liable and defamation cases. The laws have not kept up with the nuances of the technological advances we have experienced, so it may be difficult at this point to criminally prosecute these issues of privacy. Women like QTCinderella and those who remain anonymous were turned away by multiple lawyers because while there are laws against revenge porn, AI-fabricated deep fake porn is not technically revenge porn and may not be actually considered to be images of the victim. The laws continue to lag behind technological advances and there are currently no federal laws against the creation of this gross increasingly popular phenomenon.
As these deep fakes continue to be spread, bought, and sold online, the necessity for federal legislation and policy to regulate this rapidly evolving technology grows. An approach to this lack of policy should consist of a two-pronged solution that enacts legislation prohibiting the creation and dissemination of non-consensual deep fake pornography and establishes the rights for legal action against the unlawful publication of deep fakes. The lack of regulation for deepfake technology is a threat to celebrities and any person with an image or video of themselves uploaded to the internet, regardless if these posts are made publicly or privately. Most recently, in December of 2019, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act which requires the Director of National Intelligence to frequently report on the use of deep fakes by international governments, and analyze its potential to spread misinformation and its impact on national security.
While these preliminary preventative measures are a step in the right direction, these legislative safeguards do not consider the effects deep fakes will have on the American public. Since deep fakes have been introduced, only a handful of states have implemented laws to discourage the use, creation, and spread of political deep fakes and nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes. Legislation that is aimed at preventing the use of this dangerous and intrusive technology can encourage the use of AI in positive ways that facilitate greater knowledge and benefit our society at large. However, if this deepfake technology and AI as a whole continue to go unchecked, deep fakes and facial recognition/re-creation technology will alter the political and social climate, reimagining what it looks like to make posts online, decipher between truth and fiction and navigate the internet safely.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.