Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Monday the takedown of 12 pornographic webpages using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deepfake public figures in compromising situations.
Photo by Dean Moses
Call them the dirty AI dozen.
Twelve smutty websites containing deepfake pornographic images of celebrities made with artificial intelligence (AI) were shut down and seized through operations that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Monday.
Bragg said that his office’s Cyber Crime Bureau has seized the domains of multiple sites that used AI to take images of celebrities like actors, athletes, and even politicians in compromising positions. The dozen sites took advantage of more than 1,200 real people, generating sexually explicit content with AI without their consent.
“I want to be clear: we do not tolerate sexual exploitation in any form, including sharing and selling deepfake pornography. These horrific violations of privacy follow victims. They follow victims into their careers and personal lives, and take an immense toll on their emotional and mental well-being. We were able to seize these domains because a brave survivor stepped forward to report crimes to our office,” Bragg said during a Sept. 14 press conference. “We know that anyone can be a victim of these crimes, particularly in the domestic violence space, many of our intimate partner violence cases involve threats to release images and videos, and we know that deepfakes are being used in the same way.”
Any user now attempting to visit one of the websites taken offline by the DA’s office were will be met with a message reading: “This domain has been seized by the New York County District Attorney’s Office pursuant to a seizure warrant authorized by a New York State Supreme Court for violations of New York State Penal Law.”
While the pages have been removed, taking physical action against those responsible for these abhorrent and obscene images is more complicated than simply making an arrest.
Nevertheless, Bragg stressed the need for victims to come forward to help shut down the dirty websites, and hold their creators accountable.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Monday the takedown of 12 pornographic webpages using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deepfake public figures in compromising situations.Photo by Dean Moses
“I think there are a lot of people out there suffering in silence. There are a lot of people who’ve been in touch. There are a lot of people that don’t know that something can be done about this,” Bragg added. “Reach out to us if it was done without your permission and consent. We will start and we’ll go where the facts take us.”
While anyone related to these webpages have yet to be taken into custody, Bragg says that when they are caught and convicted, the bad actors can face up to one year in prison.