Technical progress is unstoppable, but one topic has been causing increasing problems recently: artificial intelligence (AI). Technology is repeatedly misused to fake degrading photos of real people. Prominent women in particular are often the target of such attacks. A victim of deepfakes no longer wants to remain silent and has made a shocking film about the criminal activities on ZDF: Collien Ulmen-Fernandes.
The darker side of the Internet: Deepfakes seem frighteningly real
Anyone who is present in the media as a female person can be sure of one thing: aggressive actions are not long in coming. The perpetrators, mostly male, cross personal boundaries and justify their actions with the celebrity status of those affected. True to the motto: If a woman is in public, she must expect to be sexualized…
This fallacy is reinforced by the anonymity of the Internet, as the perpetrators often feel untouchable. One phenomenon in particular has been making headlines for a few years now – so-called deepfake porn. Women’s faces are mounted on other people’s bodies using AI; The end result is deceptively real-looking content that exposes and humiliates those affected.
She is affected by deepfakes: Collien Ulmen-Fernandes no longer wants to remain silent
VIVA legend Collien Ulmen-Fernandes is one of the few prominent people affected who dare to speak openly about the topic. She reveals to ZDF why deepfakes are so degrading: “It feels like someone has involuntarily torn your clothes off.” The content may be fake, but the consequences for those affected are a bitter reality. In recent years, the problem has gotten even worse, because the deepfake content now seems frighteningly real:
However, it was previously obvious that these were fakes. The videos were jerky, the head seemed clearly mounted on the body. But the technology has developed rapidly.
Particularly tragic: the law does not adequately protect those affected. Ulmen-Fernandes makes it clear: “There is currently no ban on manipulating neutral images to create a deepfake.” Therefore, it is hardly possible to take legal action against fake content.
Moving ZDF documentary explains: More celebrity women speak out
Collien Ulmen-Fernandes was one of the first German celebrities to speak out on the shameful topic. Together with investigative journalist Marie Bröckling, she therefore decided to film a documentary for ZDF: “Something like this can have serious traumatic consequences. It is therefore important to me to draw attention to this problem.”
In the two-part film she talks about her own experiences and goes on a search for the perpetrators online. Who is responsible for the deepfake content, how is it created and is money even made from fake porn?
In addition, other affected people are speaking out. Temptation Island presenter Lola Weippert shows what impact the deepfakes have on her: “I’m ashamed when I think about it, how many people see this and think, ‘This is real’.”
Twitch streamer Pia Scholz (known as: Shurjoka) shows, how little help those affected can expect: “You go to file a report, then you’ll be sent home. Then you’ll be alone with it.”
This is how you can stream the ZDF deepfake documentary
If you want to find out more about the topic, you don’t have to wait any longer. The two-part documentation is available on demand in the ZDFmediathek under the following name: The trail: deepfake porn.