Swift retaliation: Fans strike back after explicit deepfakes flood X

The AI-generated deepfake pornography of Taylor Swift has gone viral on X, with one post receiving over 45 million views, 24,000 reposts, and hundreds of thousands of likes before it was removed.

The pop star has an incredibly dedicated and enormous fanbase. The Swifties are now rallying to combat this violation.

In the past, organized fandoms have accomplished great feats, such as when K-pop fans reserved hundreds of tickets to a Donald Trump rally to sabotage attendance numbers. With the 2024 U.S. presidential election on the horizon, some pundits have even speculated on the influence of Swifties as a voting bloc.

However, their focus now is on eradicating the nonconsensual deepfakes of the musician. They are flooding X with posts to bury the AI-generated content when users search for terms like “taylor swift ai” or “taylor swift deepfake.” The trending phrase “PROTECT TAYLOR SWIFT” has been used in over 36,000 posts on the platform.

While this fan-driven campaign demonstrates their solidarity, there is concern that some fans may resort to harassment tactics, such as doxxing the X users who circulated the deepfakes. The widespread participation in the cause also means that not all fans may be aligned in their approach.

With the advent of accessible generative AI tools, this harassment tactic has prompted the FBI and international law enforcement agencies to issue a joint warning about the threat of sextortion. According to research from cybersecurity firm Deeptrace, about 96% of deepfakes are pornographic, and they predominantly target women.

This form of abuse extends even into schools, where underage girls have been victimized by their peers with explicit, nonconsensual deepfakes. For Taylor Swift fans, this issue goes beyond protecting the star; they understand that these attacks could happen to anyone and are committed to setting a precedent against this intolerable behavior.

According to 404 Media, the images originated in a Telegram chat dedicated to creating nonconsensual, explicit images of women using generative AI. Despite this content violating Microsoft policy, the AI is still capable of creating it, with users finding ways to circumvent basic safety tools.

Legislatively, there is progress in criminalizing nonconsensual deepfakes. Virginia has banned deepfake revenge porn, and the DEEPFAKES Accountability Act has been reintroduced by Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY). The swift fans have also highlighted the failures of Ticketmaster in addressing this issue.

This campaign underscores the dangers of AI’s rapid advancement and the need for thoughtful regulation. If it takes a mass harassment campaign against a celebrity for undertested AI models to face scrutiny, then that poses a whole new problem.