A New York Times article last month about websites that use A.I. to “undress” ordinary pics of women and girls sparked a huge conversation in the law offices of the state’s attorney in San Francisco, NBC News now reports: Attorneys there hope to cut the practice off at the source.
High school prom (RB Photo via Flickr Creative Commons)Representatives from 16 websites that offer this deepfake capability as a service, based in the US, the UK, and Estonia, either could not be reached for comment or refused to comment for the Times story. But in promoting itself, one of the sites advertises, “Imagine wasting time taking her out on dates” when you can use the website “to get her nudes.”
Although the possession of such images violates many laws, including child pornography laws, going after the teenage boys who are said to be visiting these sites would involve tracking them down one at a time, City Attorney David Chiu told the Times. So, he is taking a different approach and filing a lawsuit that asks a judge to order the sites used to create the content to shut down altogether.
In July, the paper reported on the use of deepfake porn of middle and high school girls being used to harass them and humiliate them, leaving the girls with very little recourse against their abusers. And since any photo can be used, such as a prom photo or a sports photo, being internet savvy doesn’t prevent someone from taking an image and submitting it for processing in this way.
Editorial
As Mr Chiu points out, the law hasn’t quite caught up with artificial intelligence technology. But let’s take a moment to focus on the victims of deepfake porn, which has involved everyone from Taylor Swift to middle school girls.
If you find that you have been victimized, it’s important to get help right away. “Both mental health and legal action should be taken to protect yourself,” writes y
Jayna Nickert for HealthNews. “For those living in the US, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative has a crisis hotline for expert support and advice. It’s also essential to seek the support of a licensed, trusted therapist to help you process your feelings and emotions surrounding the incident.”
The damage deepfake porn can cause for the victims includes anxiety, panic, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many of these conditions significantly impact the brain, including changes to the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala.
