Taylor Swift performing for The Eras Tour. Image: Paolo Villanueva/Flickr (CC by 2.0)
Fake images of Taylor Swift circulated across multiple social media platforms last week, which the White House referred to as ‘alarming’.
Searches of one of the most popular singer-songwriters in the world, Taylor Swift, are being blocked on X after sexually explicit AI-generated images of her began spreading across the platform.
Attempting to search for Taylor Swift on the platform bring up a “something went wrong” message, though this measure appears very basic as searches that include other words with Taylor Swift still work.
The search block comes after AI-generated images of Swift began spreading on social media, particularly on X. A source told the UK’s Daily Mail that Swift is considering taking legal action against the porn site that is hosting them.
X had adopted a policy of largely ignoring media requests for comment – its press email would automatically send a poop emoji to any email during a period last year. But X head of business operations Joe Benarroch told multiple media outlets that the search block is a “temporary action” being conducted to “prioritise safety on this issue”.
The creation of sexually explicit AI-generated images of celebrities is not a new development, with deepfake technology being used for years to create this type of content. A study in 2019 claimed 96pc of deepfakes online were pornographic in nature.
But recent advancements in the realm of generative AI have caused a vast improvement in the quality of AI-generated images, leading to concerns that these images can be used for various deceptive purposes.
The spread of the AI-generated images of Swift drew the attention of the US White House. Its press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the incident “alarming” and that it was a key AI issue being prioritised by the US president, The Verge reported.
False content on X
X was in the spotlight multiple times last year as it was used to spread deceptive content – sometimes with the help of AI. A false claim was spread on X that the US Pentagon had been attacked, complete with AI-generated images of the aftermath of an explosion.
Towards the end of 2023, various examples were being shared of false content spreading on X – relating to the conflict taking place between Israel and Hamas in Palestine. The platform is currently being probed by the EU to assess whether the platform has violated the terms of the Digital Services Act for potentially spreading harmful content and disinformation.
The platform recently announced that it is strengthening its policies and enforcement to tackle child sexual abuse material and claimed that this is one of its top priorities.
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Taylor Swift performing for The Eras Tour. Image: Paolo Villanueva via Flickr (CC by 2.0)
