UK Banishes Major Deepfake Erotica Platforms
In the wake of recent legislative advances, two giant players in the deepfake porn industry have started blocking their UK-based followers. This comes immediately after the United Kingdom's government unveiled its plans to make creating unsanctioned deepfakes a punishable crime.
Combatting Deepfake Abuse
Deepfake porn portals and apps capable of digitally undressing images have shown worryingly rapid growth, causing significant distress to countless women who become their unsolicited subjects. Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, secures this development as an immensely crucial stride in combating deepfake misuse. “This stops the easy and regularized encounter with deepfake sexual harassment content,” comments McGlynn to WIRED.
Rise of Deepfake Technology
Since the inception of deepfake technology in December 2017, non-consensual sexualized depictions of women - either from superimposing faces onto erotic footage or creating fresh explicit images have been rampant. As the technology evolves and becomes more accessible, the creation of numerous deep-porn platforms, even amongst schoolchildren, has been a concerning trend.
Access Denied to Major Deepfake Sites in the UK
Geo-blocking the main deepfake sites was noticed in the United Kingdom, with two of the most significant sites flashing advisories that the platforms aren’t permitted for individuals accessing from the country. The largest deepfake porn platform presently in operation published a message stating access denial from the UK and cites impending legislation as the reason behind it restricting website access. The site even displayed the visitor’s IP address and geographical location.
Legal and Operational Ambiguities
Whether these restrictions have come with legal orders or the sites have voluntarily put them in place is not quite clear. Queries sent to these websites via provided email ids and contact forms remained unanswered.
Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, is empowered to take action against harmful websites under the sweeping online safety protocols that were enforced last year. However, these powers are yet to be totally operational and are still being discussed.
Impact of Restriction on Access
This UK blockage could possibly shrink the user base seeking or crafting deep-pornographic content within the country. According to data from the intelligence agency Similarweb, the larger of these two sites reported global traffic of 12 million last month, with the other having 4 million. In the UK alone, traffic has been estimated at 500,000 and 50,000 respectively.
New Law Against Non-Consensual Deepfakes
British lawmakers this week revealed their plan for a law criminalizing the manufacture of unconsented deepfakes. The proposed law signifies an unlimited fine for creating deepfakes with intent to distress or humiliate the victim and augments the existing laws which bar the distribution of sexualized deepfakes.
Worldwide Call for Stringent Measures
“Even though we don't know if these platforms have blocked UK access of their own volition, or have faced legal orders to do so, the mere effect of the legislation demonstrates that laws can have a substantial impact, particularly removing the unclear legal status often leveraged by deepfake porn platforms to justify the clear ethical harm they inflict,” AI and deepfake expert Henry Ajder communicates with WIRED.
While it’s possible to access these sites using a VPN, the blocks put in place are a stark indicator that continuous pressure from legislators, tech companies and activists can make it more challenging to access and produce deepfake pornography.
Deepfake porn obstruction through legislative measures sends out a strong message about the detrimental nature of deepfake abuse and could motivate governments worldwide to adopt similar steps.
