Thanks to artificial intelligence, anyone can now easily make pornographic images of you. All it takes is a photo and a few clicks to integrate your face into a hyper-realistic asexual scene…
Do you share a lot of photos and videos of yourself on social networks? Beware! Because these perfectly innocent personal images can turn into a real trap capable of destroying your reputation. Imagine: one day, you discover that photos or videos of a sexual nature where you appear completely naked, or even in “action”, are circulating freely on the Internet, on pornographic sites as well as in group conversations. Yet you never took these photos. Worse: they never existed. These are what we call deepfakes. Also called “hypertrucages” in French, these are photos and videos modified or generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to depict people, most often women, in situations for pornographic purposes, without their consent, of course. An act which tarnishes the image of people whose identity has been stolen, and which can go so far as to ruin their lives.
These hyperrealistic montages often affect celebrities or women with visibility on social networks, such as influencers or YouTubers – Léna Situations and Juju Fitcats have unfortunately paid the price. But not only. You can absolutely find yourself in this situation. A jealous colleague, a malicious neighbor, a jilted ex… Anyone can create deepfakes of you. Minors are not spared either. A few weeks ago, eleven-year-old Spanish schoolgirls received completely naked photos of themselves on their cell phones. However, they had never taken these photos. Classmates had simply used artificial intelligence to merge photos of their faces onto naked bodies, to obtain a particularly realistic result. We’ll let you imagine their shock…
Unfortunately, the number of deepfake porn has exploded in recent years, due to technological advances. In itself, the phenomenon has always existed, if only with scissors, a charming magazine and a tube of glue. When the technology began to develop, the process to create a deepfake was very complex and time-consuming, requiring hundreds of videos of the victim to achieve a realistic result. But with the leaps made by AI, these ever more realistic montages have seen their number explode.
And today, it’s no longer even a question of editing, but of creating a body made from scratch – a few clicks are enough to undress a body in a photo, and for free. There are plenty of applications and online services that are no longer hidden. Worse, these rigging tools do not hesitate to advertise on social networks, using slogans such as “Insert any face into the video” , “Undress a girl for free!”, “Our artificial intelligence allows you to erase any unnecessary clothing from a photo”, coupled with unmistakable images. And this content can then end up feeding sites dedicated to pornographic deepfakes, which have millions of visitors. Scary !
Remember: what’s put on the Web is forever! If you are ever the victim of a deepfake, save the evidence (links, screenshots of the site, messages, etc.) and file a complaint immediately. The “good” news is that, in the digital bill, the Government added an amendment to punish any publication of montage of a sexual nature with two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros – the The penalty is increased to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, if the images used come from a photo or video published on social networks. We also advise you to use Disrupt, a reporting tool aimed at preventing and limiting the non-consensual distribution of intimate content, including proactively. This is the best way to get this type of content removed from the web!