The social media platform, X, was recently riddled with explicit and counterfeit images of Taylor Swift, created using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This deluge of AI-generated counterfeit imagery has caused concern about the proliferation of artificial sexually explicit content online. This issue underscores the difficulty in controlling such content dissemination on the internet.
One such example on X saw over 45 million views, 24,000 reposts and garnered numerous likes and saves, demonstrating its diffusion on social media. The originating account for these images was banned for violating X’s rules, but not before the post was live for about 17 hours.
The discourse around these images further amplified their sharing, leading to their distribution on other accounts. A myriad of these posts are still visible, and the incidence of such explicit synthetic imagery continues to rise. In certain regions, the term “Taylor Swift AI” saw a significant uptick, driving an even higher visibility of such images.
Reports cite that Taylor Swift is irate about these images and is contemplating legal action against the deepfake website responsible for creating them. A study from 404 Media speculates the images’ origin to be a specific Telegram group that shares counterfeit explicit AI imagery of women, primarily created using Microsoft Designer.
The regulations of X unequivocally prohibit counterfeit and manipulated media alongside unauthorized image sharing. This includes the content related to Taylor Swift. Neither X, Taylor Swift’s representatives, nor the NFL have responded to inquiries about the ongoing situation.
However, X issued a public statement nearly a day post the incident but did not directly address the Taylor Swift images. X has faced criticism from Swift’s fans for its delayed response in removing the offending- posts. In response, fans have used hashtags linked to the explicit images to circulate authentic videos of Swift in an attempt to counterbalance the counterfeit content.
